


The Runaway

by CyberHipster



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Nightmares, POV First Person, PTSD, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-03-05 15:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18831211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberHipster/pseuds/CyberHipster
Summary: They think I killed her, but I didn't, it wasn't me, it was him, I swear it. But now look at me, on the run, running away from my home, from the cops. They're trying to get me, they think it's my fault. It wasn't my fault she was already dead when I found her, or at least she was almost dead when I found her. But it wasn't me, i swear to the god above. Now look at me, hiding from the sirens that pass by, sirens looking for me, hunting me down, sirens that probably want me dead.





	1. Somewhere to Go, Somewhere to Hide

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Hello, this is my first story, based off a dream I had, but I wanted to make it somewhat relatable, or not, I guess. Anyway, by making it first person I hope to immerse you in the story. 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Underlined text= You (First Person)  
> Italicized Text= Quinn  
> Bolded Text= Other/background character

They think I killed her, but I didn't, it wasn't me, it was him, I swear it. But now look at me, on the run, running away from my home, from the cops. They're trying to get me, they think it's my fault. It wasn't my fault she was already dead when I found her, or at least she was almost dead when I found her. But it wasn't me, i swear to the god above. Now look at me, hiding from the sirens that pass by, sirens looking for me, hunting me down, sirens that probably want me dead.  


Running, my feet hitting the pavement, hitting the gravel, hitting the dirt, the feeling of something against my feet, pushing me forward, keeping me free. God, my lungs are on fire, burning the anxiety like it's gasoline, burning the fear like a forest fire, the fire engulfing my body as if I were made of straw. My body craves for a break, it yearns for rest, it wants to stop, but it can't, I won't let it, I have to keep moving or else I’ll get caught, and I can't get caught, they're gonna get me, I have to keep going, keep moving. I don't have anything on me, no clothes (other than the one's on my back), no money, no phone, nothing, not a penny to my name. Well, maybe a lot of money to my name for my arrest, but i didn't do anything wrong.  


How long have I been running? The sun is just starting to rise, so maybe it's the next day? I don't know how long I've been running, I don't even know what day it is, I left in such a hurry. Hurry...hurry, gotta hurry! They've been on my tail ever since I left, sirens passing by every second, looking for me, hunting me. I’ve gotta keep going. Keep moving, keep running, keep up keeping up. My body screams at me to stop, but I can't stop, can't stop, but I want to stop, but I can't stop.  


I gotta stop, I can't keep going, I've lost them. It's night time again, I've been running the whole day, my body is aching, my lungs hurt, my body is protesting every move I make. I found this abandoned looking house, very run down, door isn't boarded up, some of the windows are smashed but it looks fine otherwise. I don't head inside the house because if they come here looking for me, that's the first place they'll want to look. I head around to the side of the house and find an open fence. That's when I see it, the red and blue lights flashing on the fence in front of me, I run through the opening into the backyard.  


It's full of broken down cars, cardboard boxes, and a small to medium sized shack on some medium sized metal stilts, the shack doesn't look like it's in the best of shape, the stairs attached to it look like they would break if too much weight is put on them, so I stay away from it for now, at least the stilts and the foundation seem to be in tact. I see it again, the lights, the lights are coming for me and they're coming quick I hurry under one of the cars. Hide, I gotta hide. Somewhere they can't find me. So I hide under one of the cars that has the most and least amount of space and I squeeze under it. There's some oil here that gets on my clothes, maybe they won't use dogs, hopefully they don't use dogs, god i hope they don't use dogs. I see the lights getting brighter and brighter until they've stopped in front of the house. My breath becomes erratic, am I breathing? Am I being quiet? They're gonna find me. They're gonna take me away for something that I didn't do. They're gonna kill me.  


Then I hear it, the crash of the front door being kicked in. Multiple voices shouting through the house, looking for me, trying to find me, trying to take me away. Gotta keep quiet, gotta stay low, I have to stay here. The voices get louder, I know they're coming out into the backyard. Then I hear it, boots on the gravel right next to the car I'm under, I hold my breath like my life depends on it, because it does depend on it. All I need to do is keep calm, but it's really hard when someone who is trying to arrest you is walking right next to you. Gotta keep quiet, gotta stay calm, gotta do nothing. Can't move, can't breathe, don't wanna look, can't look or else I make noise, gotta lay low.  


Then I see movement in the shadows, something that looks like a person but since it's night time, I can't make out the figure, with all of the boxes that make up a least half of the yard's clutter, I see the shadow pick up a box and throw it over the fence. That's when I notice that there was a cop that was walking right next to the car I was hiding under. The noise of the box hitting the ground on the other side of the fence caught the attention of the cops and they yell at one another to get back into their cars and I hear the tires squeal out of the places they were parked in order to “follow me” past the fence. When I can't hear the cops anymore, I peak out from under the car, slowly enough to not make any noise with sudden movements, and I can't see any of the lights. I can hear the sirens in the distance, the sirens that think they're following me, the sirens that think that they are getting closer to me, sirens that can't take me away from my freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are welcome
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ get-lost-with-m3


	2. Someone New, Somewhere Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shadow that saved me comes into the light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back, chapter 2 of a however long story, hopefully y'all are liking it so far, I'm not sure when uploading will be a constant, but I know that I already have some more chapters written
> 
> Anyway, hope y'all enjoy
> 
> (Description of Quinn is up to your imagination)
> 
> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Background characters**

Now that the coast is clear, I get out from under the car and look around at my new home. These cars have seen better days, I don't even know when these things came here as their graveyard, and as to why there are so many cardboard boxes, don't ask me, I just got here. As I'm walking around though, before I know it, I feel a knife against my back. “ _Put your damn hands up,_ ” and I do as I’m told and put my hands up. The person comes around to the front of me, putting the knife to my stomach and making sure that I don't move. “ _What the fuck are you doing here? Huh? Why the hell are there so many cops after you?_ ” I don't say anything, too afraid of talking right now. That's when the person shines a phone light in my face to see what I look like, when she sees my face, she knows who I am. “ _Oh my god, it's you. You're all over the news. You're wanted for murder, wanted for running away as soon as the cops came to arrest you. That's why there were so many cops looking for you here…_ ”

Then she started to push the knife harder into my stomach, making me back up into one of the cars. When my back hits the car, I can feel the knife wanting to puncture my stomach, but when my back hits the car, she stops and looks at me with quizzical eyes. _“Tell me why I shouldn't just turn you into the cops?”_ She gives me time to get myself together and when I finally get my mind together, I take a breath and pick my next words carefully. “I didn't kill her, I swear it, I know it was him, I know it.” She doesn't seem to believe me, so she pushes the knife ever so slightly to try to get what she thinks is the “truth” outta me. _“Tell me the damn truth, I know you're fucking lying!”_ I just look at her in disbelief, and I counter with, “Why the fuck would I kill my mom? Huh?! Do I fucking look like someone who would really want to kill their mom? Why would I want to kill the only family that actually cared about me…”

With that the pressure of the knife at my stomach leaves and the girl in front of me looks at me with sadness in her eyes. “ _I...I’m sorry, I didn't know...I’ve been watching the news, but they never said that she was your mom, only said her name and age, the usual stuff you know?_ ” I just look at her, tears welling in my eyes and she shows me the news that she's been watching, but when she goes to hand me the phone, it's a little too fast and immediately flinch and turn away waiting for the impact, but one never comes, when I open my eyes I see hers. There's horror etched into them, then I see anger, something that I have experience with. But there was a flash of sorrow and understanding in her eyes. She knows what it's like, she knows that my kind of body language means, she just understands. No one has been this understanding since mom was still alive. Dad was an alcoholic, and abusive, to both my mom and I, and whenever he would get mad, even if it was something small, he would take it out on me, well, mostly me, mom would intervene at some points so that I wouldn't get a worse beating than I would have, but she would always get the worse end because she got in between me and dad.

“Sorry, fast movements kind of freak me out…” my voice comes out small and fragile. I hate how it sounds, but I can't help it because what I said was the truth. She can sense the genuine tone that I have and I can see the empathy in her eyes. She slowly holds out her hand to not scare me again, “ _My name's Quinn,_ ” she says with a softness that I haven't heard in a while. I go to shake her hand, “I’m-,” she stops me right there, “ _I know who you are, no need to tell me, you're all over the news as is,_ ” her laugh is a breath of fresh air that I haven't gotten in the last day, has it been a day? I still don't know. “Hey, what day is it?” she looks at me and then checks her phone, “ _Says it's Wednesday, when did you start running?_ ” I just look at her in shock, did I really run since yesterday morning? How the hell did I last so long? Am I actually dead? Did I die? Did they kill me? Did they shoot me when I was running and I was just too exhausted to actually feel it? Maybe I am dead and Quinn is just an angel that is trying to help me transition into heaven. Or am I in hell? Maybe this is hell. Maybe I’m just going to relive this day for the rest of my life.

I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder, and I flinch away. “ _Sorry, I’m sorry, you were just freaking out and I needed to see if you were okay, you're breathing really fast too._ ” Quinn looks at me with concern clear in her eyes. I clutch at my chest because my lungs feel like they're on fire again, I can't breathe, I should be able to breathe, why can't I breathe? The hand is suddenly on my shoulder again and this time I push it away but it doesn't move, then I start to panic because I can't get away. I start pushing and shoving trying to pry myself free, then a second hand is holding me. The hands are gripping my arms trying to get me to calm down, I'm able to move my body away from the car and we both fall onto the ground. But now that we are both on the ground that's when I really start to panic because my instincts know that there is a beating coming. I’m thrashing, and the gravel under us is starting to kick up a noise around us that could get us caught.

The body that is above me lowers to my ear and says, “ _I need you to calm down, if you kick up any more gravel, then someone will call the cops again for a disturbance._ ” That's when I freeze, and everything comes back to me, I remember where I am, I feel the breeze that is going through the backyard. Then the blurry face that is above me starts to come back into focus and I see Quinn with tears in her eyes. The world around me is still a little blurred from my own tears, so I look at Quinn, nod, and slowly sit up in order to wipe my eyes properly. When I’m finally up and looking around I finally take a look at where I’m going to be hiding, it's not much, but hey, it's better than being constantly on the run. Hopefully the cops won't come back and look here.

As I’m in my thoughts, a hand comes to rest on my shoulder, “ _Hey, sorry for freaking you out earlier, I really didn't mean to._ ” Quinn’s voice is genuine and honestly sorry, I wave it off, “It's okay, I haven't had a bad reaction like that in a while, but then again, I’ve only been on the run lately.” Quinn doesn't seem to believe me, but she doesn't push anymore. “ _So what do you wanna do here? There is the house and the shack that I’ve been staying in, it's better than the house, and I know it doesn't look like it, but trust me, I’ve been here a while._ ” I glance at the shack and I’m not convinced, but it's better than running constantly. “I’m honestly just looking for somewhere to stay until I get proven innocent, I haven't don't anything wrong. It might be a while, but if you’ll let me stay, I’ll try to do something here to help out.” She thought about it for a second and then looked me in the eye. “ _You can take care of the place when I’m gone, I have a job that I have to go to in the morning. Are you hungry? You've probably been running for a while._ ” Before I could answer my stomach let out a loud growl. I just look at Quinn and laugh quietly, and she does too, “ _I guess I got my answer. Cmon, I have food in the shack._ ” She waves me over to the shack but walks past the stairs and under the shack itself. “ _You think I would actually take those stairs? Do you **see** those stairs, any pressure and they'll snap, I learned that the hard way_,” she points to the couple broken steps at the bottom of one of the stairs, “ _it hurt like a bitch, i'll tell you that. I've been here a while, so I figured out a way to make a secret opening that someone would only know if they lived here for a while, or they were showed._ ” Quinn leads me to the back left corner of the shack and holds up a magnet, I think, and I hear a click and she pushes up the floorboards and a small ladder comes down and she waves me up. “You don't have to help me out you know. I can leave and let you have your peace and quiet and I can just stay on the run. I don't really mind, I feel bad for invading your claimed space.” Quinn just looks at me in awe, “ _No, I know what it's like to be on the run, and it's not fun, and it's nice when you finally find somewhere to stay. So don't worry about it._ ” I then follow her up into the shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments welcome
> 
> Got any questions? Just ask


	3. A Clean Slate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all know the drill
> 
>  You (first person)  
>  _Quinn_  
>  **Other/Side character**

The inside of the shack doesn't match the outside of it. The outside is all beat up and not taken care of at all, and the inside, wow, the inside is clean, it looks almost new. The walls on the inside look like they've been replaced, as do the floorboards. I can hear the hum of electricity throughout the shack, there are no lights on, I'm guessing to keep anyone from knowing that there is someone here. The living room of the shack has a couch that is in pretty good shape, looks almost new but clearly broken in. There's a rug on the ground and a fireplace that it is front of. I see a bedroom and what I think is a bathroom, god I hope it's a bathroom, hopefully there's running water too, I’m so damn sweaty and gross, and I need to pee, oh man, a bed sounds so good right now, oh man sleep, I need sleep. I hear Quinn finishing up closing the hatch and locking it back into place and that's when I come back to reality. She gets up from the floor and waves me over to the kitchen and opens the fridge to get me a bottle of water and a pre-made sandwich. My stomach growls again and she laughs once more. She grabs some food for herself and we head over to the couch. It's finally nice to sit and not constantly be on the run.

“ _So why'd you do it?_ ” Right to the point then I guess. “I already told you that I didn't do it, why would I kill the only person who ever really cared about me?” It came out harsher than I expected, “ _you're fucking lucky I didn't turn you into the damn police, so either you be nice, or I’m calling the cops right now._ ” I put my hands up in defense, “fine fine, I’m sorry, been on edge for the last two days ya know?” she nods but her eyes say that the threat was still there and that she would really call the cops if I kept up this attitude. “ _Look, I know we just met, but you can trust me, I threw a cardboard box over the fence when there was a cop close to your car, at least give me that._ ” “Yeah, I guess I can give you that one, but I really didn't kill her, she was my mom, and she actually loved me and made sure that I was doing okay, so it was really hard seeing her on the ground bleeding out, I tried to stop it, but I was too late. I had to leave as soon as I could because I’m pretty sure my father called the cops on me, but I'm for damn sure it was him that killed her.” Admitting this to Quinn was really hard because I haven't talked to anyone since I ran. I haven't really had any human interaction since I left home. Quinn looks away clearly thinking of what I said, clearly thinking hard and piecing the parts together to see if I'm actually lying. Which I personally know that I’m not lying, but I can't blame her for not fully trusting me just yet. I continue to eat the sandwich I was given, and god, I’m so damn hungry, so fucking hungry. The sandwich is practically gone, as is the bottle of water that I was given, when Quinn finally starts to speak up, “ _so you **didn't** do it?_” wow, for someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to, seems like interior fixings and electrical shit, she's not that smart when it comes to finding the truth. I pinch the bridge of my nose, “Quinn, you can't be serious. Why would I kill my mom? If I were to have killed someone it would be my dad. He didn't treat my mom and I right, so if I were to kill someone, it would be him,” she doesn't look shocked, but nods as if she's agreeing and understands. “ _I guess I can see where you're coming from, my parents were good to me, so I didn't really need to run away like you did, but something happened to them and now I'm here._ ”

Well this is new, she's opening up to me. She's probably going against all of her instincts to have me here, I would be too, but I'm glad that she took me in, I don't know how much longer I would have lasted staying on the run. They would've caught me because I would've passed out somewhere and I would be taken to jail, and I wouldn't see my innocence because I would be put to death, and, and…“ _hey, hey, calm down, calm down,_ ” I take in a deep breath and calm my nerves once more and I close my eyes for a second, I take in my surroundings with my other senses, the smell of the wood of the shack, the slight breeze that is outside, I know this place is kind of safe, I haven't been here long enough to really know if this place is really the safest that I can possibly be, but at the moment, I'm glad that I'm not on the run anymore. Being able to finally sleep in an actual bed, or just sleep in general, I've pretty much been on the run and have had no break until now.

When I open my eyes again, everything is back in focus and I can finally start to feel the effects of being on the run for two days straight hit me like a freight train. I slump back against the couch and just breathe, I'm finally somewhere I can relax, somewhere I can just be for a little bit, I'm somewhere safe. It's not home, but it's somewhere. I'm brought back to the present when my bladder is screaming at me to fucking **go**. “Hey, so uhm, is that a bathroom over there?” Quinn looks at me like I'm crazy, but then she catches on and nods, “ _yeah, running water and everything, go on ahead, I can only imagine what it was like to not be able to go to a real bathroom, so go have a field day_ ”. I give a quick thanks and dash to the bathroom. Once I’m in there and close the door I can't unbutton my pants fast enough, I finally get to relieve myself and it's like the greatest feeling in the world. Once I'm done and all, I flush then go to wash my hands. I let the water run off my hands and I just stare at myself in the mirror, the feeling of the water reminding me of where I am and what I've been through. God it's been so long since I felt even remotely safe, I just wanna go home, I wanna go back to mom, to her home cooking, to being happy with mom, but I can't, I can't go back, that's where they'll be waiting and that's where I'll be taken away. God, what I would do to go back in time and leave with mom, not like, die, but I mean we leave in the middle of the night and just leave. But seeing as I'll never be able to see mom again, I wouldn't mind dying right now.

There's a soft knock on the bathroom door and a muffled, “ _yo you okay? You've been in there for like an hour now,_ ” I look back to the mirror and realize that I've been crying again, I finish washing my hands and wipe my face before leaving. Quinn is there standing by the door with a worried look on her face, “I'm okay, just, just thinking,” she nods, a sad look on her face, her phone chimes and when she pulls it out her phone it's the news, she looks and me and I nod for her to open it. She clicks the link and the video starts, “ **this just in, the hunt for…** ” the video stutters and Quinn curses walking back to the couch, “ **is still ongoing, there are no new leads as to where…** ” another stutter, “ **has fled to, but the authorities are still on the lookout for any new leads. If you have not heard this story yet, the I suggest you switch the channel if you are not comfortable with major violence,** ” a pause then the anchor continues, “ **It was a regular Tuesday Morning when…** ” the video lags, “ _god fucking damnit stop it,_ ” Quinn hisses at her phone, “ **was at home when the brutal murder of her,** ” I curse at the use of that pronoun, and I see Quinn take note of that but doesn't say anything, “ **mother occurred, police say that her father was the one to call in hysterics saying that she killed his wife. When the police arrived…** ” another stutter and then some lag, Quinn throws up her arms quickly and I flinch away, “ _oh shit, I'm sorry, I'll try to keep it slow,_ ” I nod and the video starts back up again, “ **had already fled the scene, the police are still on the hunt trying to find her and any new leads that would help, we will keep you updated of any changes to the case, thank you and good night** ”. The video stops and Quinn looks at me as I sit there in disbelief, this is my life now huh? On the run because it was my father that called the cops on me, on the run because I “murdered my mom,” on the run and no way home because it has been stained with the blood of my mom by the devious hands of my father.

Quinn is still watching me as I cover my face and groan into my hands, “ _so what're you gonna do?_ ” she asks, and I just shrug then look over to her, “I don't know man, this fucking sucks because I don't even know if I’ll ever be innocent again, I don't know it they’ll convict my father because they're searching for me, I just don't know anymore. I can't keep running, I don't have it in me to keep running, I'm just so tired. I just wanna see my mom again,” I realize that tears start to prick at my eyes and I wipe them quickly and sniffle to try to get the feeling of longing to go away. A gentle hand presses itself into my shoulder and gives me a gentle shake, I look up and Quinn has a soft smile on her face, “ _you'll get through this, if you've made it this far then I bet you can make it further if you apply yourself. All it takes is a helping hand, and since I'm the only pair of hands that will believe you right now, you're kinda stuck with me,_ ” she beams and I smile back, not as bright, but there's hope in her words that sparks a small fire in me that things will get better. Quinn gave me another gentle shake and stood up, “ _ah, it’s already 2 in the morning, I got work tomorrow, so I gotta head to bed, you should too, you seem like you need the sleep. There's only one bedroom so either you're sleepin in here, o-_ ” I cut her off before turning to her and saying, “race ya,” and bolted to the room. God I'm so excited to be able to sleep in a bed again, I'm so fucking ready for sleep, once I get into the room, I stop by the bed, realizing how I need to clean up. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks, oh wait, no, Quinn actually ran into my back, but something else hits me when were both falling onto the bed, I don't have a change of clothes. I scramble off of the bed in an instant not wanting to dirty it with my pretty dirty clothes. Quinn is laughing until she sees my face, “ _what's wrong?_ ” “I uh, don't have a change of clothes, and I don't want to dirty up the bed, ya know?” she nods and tells me to hold on, she gets up and heads to the dresser that's against the wall with the window. She snags a pair of sweats, a T-shirt for me and a pair of briefs, and tosses them at me, “ _go take a shower and change into those, I got an extra toothbrush in the mirror,_ ” I do as told, not because she actually told me, but because I feel fucking gross.

I head to the bathroom once more and turn the shower on, and wait for the water to heat up, once it's ready I strip down and head in. When the water his my skin it's like heaven has touched me, I close my eyes and revel in the feeling of the filth I've been running in be washed away, I get my hair wet and let the water run down my face, breathing new, clean life into my skin. When I take my head out from under the stream I use my hands to wipe away the excess water that was still clinging on. I take a deep breath and breathe in the steam, letting it warm my lungs like a nice hug after a stressful day. The warm water taking it's hold on me and holding me tight, thawing my once frozen features, the water hitting my shoulders helps the tension in them to ooze out and leave me with calm and relaxed muscles. I open my eyes, looking for some shampoo to finally clean out my hair, and there is some, god bless. Looks like Quinn has the whole set up, shampoo, conditioner, face wash and body wash. I snag the shampoo from where it sits in the corner of the shower, put some in my hand and then set it back down. The shampoo smells like apples, which is a nice change from the smell of dirt in my hair. I put the shampoo in my hair and lather up, being able to scratch my head without almost pulling out some of my hair because it's kinda matted in some places is so nice, being able to become clean again is one of the best feelings that I have right now. I let the shampoo sit in my hair for a little longer before i wash it out and go for the conditioner, which is the same smell as the shampoo. I make sure that the conditioner is in my hair before I let it sit there for the rest of the shower until after I wash my body. Once the conditioner is in my hair and sitting, I reach for the rag that is in there and use it to wash my face with the face wash that's in the shower. The feeling of the rag scrubbing against my face feels rough, but I know that I'm finally getting clean and getting all the dirt and grime off of it. After I feel like I've gotten most if not all the dirt and shit off my face I once again put my face under the steaming stream of water, letting my current worries wash away with the suds that are sitting on my face, the crease in my brow flattens, the frown on my lips turns into a flat line of contentment, and I just sit there for as long as I can without getting water up my nose, which isn't very long. Anyway, after getting out of the stream, I put the rag back and pick up the lufa that is hanging on the body wash, put a good glob of said body wash on said lufa and start to scrub my body. I scrub my arms and legs until they are practically red, showing me that I've gotten most of the dirt off my skin and that I'm clean enough that I won't mess up the bed. I scrub the rest of my body in a similar fashion making sure I'm super clean before I get out and dry off.

Once I'm dry enough, I put the clothes on, the briefs fit fine, but the sweats and shirt are a little big for me, at least the sweats had a drawstring in them so I can adjust, the shirt, I can't really do anything about it, but it's comfy, so I don't care. I look in the mirror like Quinn said and there was the extra toothbrush that she was talking about, I pick it up, put some water in my mouth while I wet the brush and put some toothpaste on it, then I wet the brush, spit out the water and put the brush in my mouth to scrub. While I brush my teeth I look in the mirror, I see my face, there are small scars from all the branches I've ran into, and the couple times I tripped and fell face first into the dirt. I look away from the scars and look into my own eyes, my eyes are full of pain, that's easy to see, they're so clouded with the dread that has been following me around like my personal cloud from hell. But the longer I stare, the deeper I go, and I can see a little spark in there, in the deepest pits of my soul, there's a small spark that sheds the smallest of lights of hope, and just seeing that spark of hope fills me with the hope that I've been lacking since I fled from home, and for the first time since I left, I smile a genuine smile. After I'm done brushing my teeth I head back to the bedroom.

When I get there I'm greeted by Quinn, “ _so you DO clean up nicely,_ ” she snickers at my expense. I give a small laugh, “yeah yeah yeah, whatever, can I lay down now?” she gives a hearty laugh before patting the bed next to her. It's not the biggest bed, but it's a full so I know that there will be enough space for both of us to sleep comfortably. When my head hits the pillow and the bed conforms to my body I almost pass out, but I don't because I feel eyes on me. “You're staring you know, this room might be dark but I've almost mastered the sense of being watched,” I laugh and I can feel Quinn shift probably embarrassed at being caught. “ _I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable,_ ” she mumbled, I hum in response and close my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3


	4. A Dream and The Day After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**

I dream of a better time, a time where mom was alive and father wasn't there at all. Mom and I are at a park, just sitting in the grass watching the clouds pass by, telling each other what we think the different clouds look like. It's nice, peaceful, there are birds singing and flying overhead, there are dogs barking in the distance and people walking all around, but then something gives, the sky glitches and turns red, I point up to the sky to get my mom’s attention, but when my hand raises up, it's covered in blood, but it's not mine, and I look over at my mom, and then I'm there again, she's bleeding out on the ground and her blood is on my hands as I try to stop the bleeding, but it doesn't stop, I can't stop it, there's nothing that I can do, my mom looks up at me, ad with a bloody hand, she reaches up and touches my face and lets out a strangled, “ **this is all your fault…** ” the bloody hand falls from my face and I feel a pain through my chest, I look down and there is a gaping hole in it. With the strength that I have left, I turn my head to see who shot me. When I turn and look, all I see is a sea of police, with their guns ready, some have lights other don't, I look back and my mom, then back to the police, I open my mouth and scream…

I wake up covered in a cold sweat, chest heaving, eyes frantic, heart thrashing like a drum line; on instinct I search my chest for a hole big enough to kill me, and heave a sigh of relief when there wasn't one, my breathing starting to come back down, but my heart rate is still on the high end and my fight or flight senses are still blaring like an alarm going off in a robbed bank, so I just sit there in the dark trying to calm myself in order to get more sleep. I close my eyes and use my other senses to calm me once more. It's quiet outside save for some rustling, probably from some small animals, cars off in the distance going down the highway, the gentle electrical hum of the shack, and finally the calm breathing next to me. It's comforting knowing that there is someone here that believes me, or at least believes me enough to not call the police on me immediately. Once my heart rate has dropped to a content level, I take a deep breath to steady it out even more, then I lean back to lay back down and try to get some more sleep. Once I'm laying back down, I take in the feeling of the bed under my body, how it conforms it it, the softness of the pillow under my head, the feel of the comforter in my hands, and once again, the calm breathing next to me, all of those together finally lulls me into a deep fitful sleep.

By the time I wake up, I forget where I am, and when I sit up, I panic, then there's something that clicks in my mind that I’m safe, I'm not getting chased, I’m safe somewhere the cops won’t come back to because they think I ran from the backyard. I don’t know what time it is, so I just get up and head to the kitchen to see if there’s a clock there so I know how long I slept. Once I get into the living room, I see Quinn sitting on the couch in what looks like a target uniform. “ _Oh good, you’re up, I thought you died from how long you’ve been asleep, but I guess it’s understandable. You looked like you were gonna keel over from exhaustion,_ ” she laughed at the end. I laugh along with her, “I mean, I probably woulda keeled over at some point, but being able to finally sleep in a bed after two whole days of running is really nice,” I sigh. “ _Before I got home I stopped the McDonalds and got us some food, there should be some cheeseburgers and fries in there_ ” she points to the bag that’s on the kitchen counter. I nod to her in thanks, snag the bag from the counter and head to sit on the couch with her. I take some fries out and ask, “aye what time is it anyways,” before I put them in my mouth. Quinn checks her phone and hums, “ _almost 6,_ ” I almost spit out my food because damn I slept for what felt like forever, “damn okay, you got work soon?” She shakes her head, “ _nah, already went to work, I work 9-5 since I don’t go to school,_ ” I nod and grunt as I take a bite of a burger. She goes back to messing with her phone as I finish up eating, I glance at the fridge because I forgot to get a drink, I hum as to see if I should ask, but then a bottle hits me in the leg, “ _I knew you would forget to grab a drink, and eating hella fries without one is suicide,_ ” she laughs and goes back to her phone with a small smile on her face. I take the bottle with gratitude and take a sip while looking out through the window near the fireplace, there are now birds singing songs outside and the gentle chirp of the crickets, and all seems peaceful.

I stand up to throw away my trash and wash my hands of all the grease that came with the burgers and fries. When I'm in front of the kitchen window I see all the boxes and the cars that I hid in, and when I see it, slight panic arises in my body from what happened the night before, but then an odd sense of gratitude comes along and eases the panic, because if it weren't for the cars, and the boxes there, I wouldn’t’ve been able to be how I am now, feeling safe and sound in this dingy looking shack (on the outside anyways). I smile at the backyard and then realize that I can't stay in these clothes, no matter how comfy these are. I turn back to Quinn who is now sitting with her legs over the back of the couch, still messing around on her phone, “yo, you got a place I can wash my clothes? I don't wanna stay in these all day even though I'm probably no gonna go anywhere anytime soon,” I say while walking over to her, she look up from her position on the couch and flings her feet backwards off the back of the couch to stand up and show me where I can wash my clothes. “ _Yeah, since this place isn't THAT sturdy when it comes to holding things up, although it's doing a pretty great job at holding up what it has right now, I have a wash bin outside, so cmon,_ ” she waves me over to the hatch and opens it up. She tells me to wait so she can check if the coast is clear, once she comes back and says that it is, I climb down and wait to the side while she closes up the shack. Now that I’m outside, I realize how nice it is to finally just walk and not be on the run. I take a deep breath that I haven't been able to take in a while and I just stand there with my eyes closed and my body relaxed.

After a couple more minutes I feel a small tap on my shoulder to let me know that Quinn is all done and ready to show me where the wash bin is. We pass by some more boxes that are scattered around the place, some that once held food, and others that are just generic boxes that are used for moving, once we pass by the onslaught of boxes we finally get to one of the back corners of the yard and there sits what looks to be a shallow barrel planter, or at least it has barrel vibes. Quinn goes to the opposite side of the bin and pats it, “ _this is where you can wash your clothes, there's some soap here somewhere, or I took it inside, I honestly don't remember. But there's a hose to fill it up, just let me know when you actually do your laundry so I can do mine too so we don't waste any water, yeah?_ ” she questions and I nod to let her know that I understand. She claps her hands together soft enough that the neighbors won't hear and get suspicious, “ _now that that's out of the way, you wanna go see the house? I haven't been in a hot minute, and I wanna see how much damage the cops did to the front door and the rest of the it_ ” she waves me onward to the house. And up close, the house is spookier than I expected, the paint on the outside walls are chipping away from lack of care, and some of the wood that the house is made of seems to be rotting, but other than that, the house seems to be in pretty good shape, the stairs to the back door are kinda broken though, probably too many people running up and down then at some point.

Quinn tests out the steps to the back to see if they're sturdy enough for two people to climb up them. She places one foot carefully on the first step probably not wanting a recap of what happened at the shack stairs, and the step seems to be holding up to the pressure of something on it, so she goes for both feet, and when it doesn't break immediately and only creaks, she shoots me a thumbs up to say that this step is fine. She then hesitates to put her foot on the second step which seems to be more cracked than solid, and when she does put her foot and some of her weight on it, the step groans in protest but stays firm. She looks at me for support and I walk over to let her put a hand on my shoulder to keep her steady, and she seems to appreciate it by the little hum that she lets out as she continues onto the rest of the step with her other foot. This time the step gives the impression that it's gonna snap, but instead it just groans louder and creaks under the pressure, but doesn't give way to whatever is under that step, and knowing that the step isn't gonna give out as soon as there's weight on it, Quinn lets out a sigh of relief, giving my shoulder a squeeze before pushing the back door open and holding out a hand for me as I ascend up the steps. When I take her hand I note how calloused they are from the possible hard work that she's put into the shack and whatever else she's done before I got here, but they're still somehow soft. Finally up the steps and in the house, she closes the door and locks it for good measure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3


	5. Into The House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**

The inside of the house isn't as welcoming as the inside of the shack. I can tell that Quinn hasn't worked on the house for obvious reasons, but god, this place gives me the creeps. First of all, there's no furniture, so the house is significantly more empty than I would’ve hoped, but I honestly can't complain with the state of the house since I don't know when this place was last lived in. The back door leads to the kitchen, which is empty as an abandoned house can get, some of the lights are busted and the broken glass is all over the floor. Quinn tsks and goes to grab a broom that she might have stowed in here a while ago and sweeps up the glass into a corner of the kitchen, “ _sorry bout this, sometimes junkies come in here and fuck up the place a little, and now I have to fix the front door and possibly get a new lock because of those damn cops following you,_ ” she grumbles and I hear a mumbled, “ _damn cops busting down my fucking door, ‘oh I'm a cop, I can do whatever I want meh meh meh’ hmph, assholes,_ ” and I almost laugh if it weren’t for the deafening silence that surrounds us. This silence isn't like anything I've ever known, and it sends a shiver down my spine.

When Quinn is done sweeping the glass into the corner I scoot closer to her just so I know that she's here, she gives me a knowing look and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “ _Kinda spooky in here huh? Another reason I don't really come in here all that much, it sucks going in here alone cuz you never know what might happen,_ ” she states, “oh yeah, most definitely sucks in here. God what the hell, this place gives me the damn creeps. What are we doing in here anyway?” she shrugs, “ _guess I wanna see what other damage those fucking cops did to the house,_ ”. We make our way into the living room and see that there is some more broken glass on the ground, some of it is on the rug that the last owners left, and Quinn just groans as she slides a hand down her face.

I give a laugh at her expense and she just glares at me then shakes her head as she goes to snag the broom again. While she's walking away I turn to her and say, “Can't win ‘em all,” with another laugh and she doesn't turn to me and just flips me off as she walks away. When she's around the corner I turn back to the living room. The paint has long since started to peel and the windows are starting to fog due to lack of cleaning and the, and the rug that's there is pretty ugly, so it's understandable why the last owners left it. I kind of feel bad about the state of this house, it seemed like it was a nice house to live in, kinda cozy with the fireplace there, I would check it out, but ya know, there might be something in the chimney, and that is a risk I'm not going to take.

Quinn comes back with the broom to sweep up the glass that is on the floor, mumbling profanities as she does, and it's pretty funny seeing her all disgruntled and such. While she is sweeping I go to check out the front door, and just at first glance I can see that one of the hinges is broken from the door frame and still attached to the door itself, and as for the door, there's a huge dent in the wood and it seems to be splintering just a little bit from where a cop kicked it. Since one of the hinges is still attached to the door, the door itself is hanging by the lone hinge holding it to the frame so it's at an angle. I don't want the door to break completely so I move it back to being as straight as I possibly can make it. Once that's done I just leave it alone so I don't break it even more and so Quinn can take a look at it and assess the full damage of it.

Speaking of Quinn, she is still cursing as she puts the broom back in the kitchen, once that task is done she comes to the front door to see how it's holding up, and she doesn't seem too mad about it, but there isn't much she can really do in terms of fixing the dent that is in the door. She sighs from next to me, “ _I guess there isn't much I can do about that dent, but I can try to put the door back in it's frame, so I guess it isn't that bad,” she shrugs then pats my shoulder, “cmon, lets go check the upstairs, it shouldn't be as bad as down here,_ ” when she turns to go to the stairs I hear a mumbled, “ _I hope,_ ” with a sigh.

As we head up the stairs, as I could've guessed, they're pretty squeaky and every other step groans in protest as we continue our way up. Once we get to the top of the stairs we see that Quinn was right that there wasn't much damage up here as there was downstairs. There seems to be three bedrooms and the bathroom. We check the first bedroom and as expected it's empty, and luckily for Quinn, there isn't any broken glass on the floor of this room, and I'm not the only one that has taken note of that because I hear a sigh of relief next to me. The bedroom is pretty clear other than the dust that has formed from not being used, but other than that the doors, walls and other things in this room seem to be in tact. And that's how the rest of the rooms are, all in tact and none damaged beyond we thought.

Once we reach the master bedroom it's the same as the others it just has the bathroom attached to it and like the other rooms there is no damage other than the natural disarray of neglect. Windows are still in tact as are the doors of the room, and that seems to be all of the rooms in the house, there's a closet in the hallway that we can check on the way out, but for right now Quinn was more occupied with seeing if there was a lot of damage to the house.

We leave the master bedroom and check the closet in the hallway as we make our way out of the house, and I don't know why I expected something to be in it knowing damn well the rest of the house is empty, but the closet is empty, so after closing the door we make our way back down the stairs and out the back door. Quinn stops for a second to look at the house, when she turns back to the back door to meet me there, she lets out a sigh and rubs the back of her neck, “ _you know, I’ve been here for a good amount of time, and I’ve made up my mind that one day, when I'm grown up, or have enough money, I'm going to buy this house and make it my own, fix it up like I did the shack. It would be nice to have something to call my own, ya know? Something that I could look at and be proud about._ ” I nod along because I agree, having something that you can call your own really fills you with a sense of pride, because you're able to see all of the hard work that you put into what you can now call yours.

“I understand completely, and having something to strive towards is good to have because it keeps you going. I'm sure you'll get this house someday, I doubt anyone will come get it anytime soon,” I say giving her arm a little punch, she laughs and nods, “ _heh, yeah, I guess this shithole isn't on anyone’s radar, because it is as I said, a shithole, for right now at least. I'm sure we can clean up this place, make it look nice, we can start this weekend since I get those off. It's Thursday, so I got tomorrow and then we can see what we can do about getting you your own clothes, maybe a hand-me down phone too, just so you're not super bored when I'm at work, and since you can't really leave here without people calling the cops on you immediately. So we’ll look into that overtime, we just gotta keep you on the down low for right now. But hey, let’s get inside, it's getting dark._ ” and she's right, it is getting dark, I guess we went into the house around noon time and now it seems to be closer to dinner time.

Following her lead to the house, I ask, “what food you got in there?” and she thinks for a second, “ _I don't have much since I have to go shopping soon, and now that you're here I gotta get food for the two of us, but for right now I think I have enough chicken nuggets for the two of us, so let's go eat, I got work in the morning._ ” She waves me over to the floor door when she gets it open, letting me go up first like the first night she let me in. Once I get inside she comes right behind and closes the door and double checks if it's locked, once she does that we make our way to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3


	6. A Much Needed Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**

Quinn heads to the freezer to grab the nuggets while I go to sit on the counter, and she catches onto that, “ _no no no,_ ” and I stop my journey, “ _if you're going to stay here then you're going to help me in the shack_ ”. When I turn back to her she has one arm in the freezer and the other getting ready to go in too. So I nod because helping out is the least I could do for her letting me stay here, “alright, where are the plates,” I ask and she points to one of the cabinets above where I was going to sit, “ _there should be some up there, I only have paper ones, but I should probably invest in some real plates some time,_ ” nodding at her instruction I head over to the cabinet and grab a couple of plates for us to use. I hand the plates to Quinn so she can put the nuggets on them, “ _I don't have much more of these, so we can just have the rest and I’ll go shopping tomorrow for more things, I gotta start using the stove and stuff again,_ ” she huffs.

I look over to the stove and oven, and they practically look brand new, It's an electric stove, and seems to be hardly used, as of late anyway, so I just turn back to her right as the nuggets finish in the microwave. “So how did you fix up this place so well? It looks damn near brand new in here, and the outside isn't even touched. You got electricity in here even though it looks like it shouldn't, so how did you do it?” She takes out the nuggets and sets them on the counter so they can cool a little bit before we eat them, and she hums, “ _I mean, it took a lot of work in order to properly get this place up and running, I do have some friends that know that I stay here, and they helped me get all situated really, so it wasn't all me, I have them to thank for helping me get all the parts I needed. If you're wondering strictly the electrical stuff then that was all me, I learned a lot from my dad, he was an electrician, so he was able to show me the ropes,_ ” she says with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes, and I can tell that something has happened in that area of her life. I try to lighten the mood by poking fun at her, “So you **do** have friends,” I say with a slight smirk, and she scoffs at the statement, “ _yes you asshole, I have friends, they've been wanting to come over to see how the shack is holding up, but I don't know if you're comfortable enough for them to come over just yet, you did just get here yesterday, and no one has seen you since you left your house,_ ” she finishes with a caring yet nervous glance.

At this point we are eating the nuggets on the couch, and we’re almost done with them when I really start thinking about what Quinn just said, I really have only been here for a day, and haven't seen other people, other than Quinn, in at least three, so I don't really know how to feel when it comes to new people, but maybe I should let some people see me so I can prove my innocence. But what if they accidentally slip that I'm here, or that Quinn is keeping me safe, what if they aren't as good as they say, what if the cops come back and take me away because one of her friends accidentally say my name, what if… “ _woah woah woah, calm down now, you gotta keep your cool, I know it's a lot to ask, and you can say no, no one is going to force you to see or meet new people, I just wanted to let you know because they've been asking a lot lately, they wanna hang out with me,_ ” one of her hands gently rubs my back while the other is reaching for a water bottle, my breathing starts to slow as I reach for the water bottle with a shaky hand.

Living like this sucks and I want it to stop, I just want to get back to my normal life, a life where I’m able to go to school, where I can see my friends, where I can just be myself again. I open the water bottle to take a sip, then lean back on the couch with a sigh. “ _Hey, we don't have to invite anyone over if you don't want to, I can hang out with my friends in the town and not bring them here, I can make something up like I’m still working on the shack a little more, something,_ ” I let out another sigh, “no no, I get it, I wanna be able to get back out there and see other people, but I don't think that I can, so bringing people here would be the best option, but I'm just scared that someone might slip and say where I am, or that they saw me here, and then you'll get in trouble and, I just, don't want to burden you like that”. Quinn chuckles and I look her way, “ _I get where you're coming from, I really do, and I know that my friends are really dumb, but they're really good at keeping secrets, and I know that they will when it comes to something this serious. But like I said, they don't have to come over if you're not comfortable with it. Once you're feeling up to it then I can invite them over, but just give me the word and we can let them over,_ ” she smiles at me and gives me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before she goes to take our plates to go throw them away.

I sit there and think about what Quinn just said. I know that I want people to start to believe me, but it's still nerve wracking because seeing people again after what happened and what's been said about me, but it needs to be done so I can start getting people on my side. It's been four days since I ran from home, and this is my second day here, the sooner I get people to come here, the better it is for me because then I can start socializing and gain confidence in my innocence. Quinn comes back and plops herself back down on the couch, “ _you don't have to answer right now, I know there's a lot on your mind, and it's getting late again. Tomorrow is my last day of work then we can figure out new clothes for you, but I gotta get ready for bed, you should too,_ ” she play punches me in the shoulder as she passes by. Nodding and getting up to go to the bathroom so I can brush my teeth.

Once reaching the bathroom I snag my toothbrush and toothpaste and start brushing. I still haven't washed my clothes, but these are the ones that I sleep in anyways, so there is no real use in waiting to get more clothes when I’ve already got some that have been given to me until I have my own. Maybe I'll just keep these, I'm sure Quinn wont mind. Hopefully she won't mind, these sweats are pretty comfy and this oversized short is very comfy too. Once I'm done brushing my teeth I head to the bedroom to go to sleep. But seeing as how last night went, I kinda don't want to sleep because I might have another nightmare. But I can't stay up without Quinn wanting to ask questions like why I’m staying up and not going to sleep, but I don't want to tell her about the dream last night. Maybe it won't happen again tonight.

When Quinn enters the room she is drying her hair with a towel, and notices me lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. I’m not paying attention, too lost in thought when she throws her wet towel right at my face. By the time I take the towel off and throw it back at her she is almost on the ground laughing like she just heard the world’s funniest joke. “Dude, why,” I say with fake hurt in my voice, which makes her laugh even more making her actually fall on the ground holding her stomach and gasping for air. Seeing her on the floor makes me start to laugh as well, albeit not as hard. Once she's done laughing and is at least sitting on the ground still catching her breath, she looks up at me and her face is all red, but she has a big smile on her face, which in turn makes me smile.

Quinn finally gets up off of the floor and sets the towel to dry on the dresser that's in the room. She comes to sit on the bed with me and once she gets there she looks me straight in my eyes and asks, “ _alright, what’s wrong_ ” and I just stare at her, thinking if I should tell her about the dream, or if I shouldn't worry her since she has work in the morning. Once again I get lost in thought and a gentle nudge of my shoulder brings me back to reality, “ _c'mon man, I know there's something on your mind, you have that far away look in your eyes again,_ ” she says with a frown and a furrow in her brow. I sigh in defeat and decide that I should tell her what happened, “alright, you got me, I had a nightmare last night,” I say a little too casually and the look in her eyes goes from ready to listen to worried in less than a second. She scoots closer to me and waits for me to continue, not pushing for answers where others might have.

I take a deep breath so I can regain my composure, not wanting to give myself a panic attack thinking about the dream. With a shaky breath out and a reassuring hand on my shoulder, I finally have the strength to talk about it. “It started out so well at first, I was at a park with my mom, we were looking at clouds, telling each other what the clouds looked like,” my voice gives for a second and I have to take another breath, the light squeeze on my shoulder pushes me forward, “but then something happens, the sky changes, like it glitches, then turns to red, and when I try to get my mom’s attention by pointing to the sky, my hand is covered in blood, but it's not my blood. That's when I look over at her and see her how I found her that night. Bleeding out right in front of me,” my body starts to shake and it's becoming difficult to breathe. Quinn wraps her arms around me and pulls me close in order to try to soothe the state that I’m in, and I cling to her as if the rumbles in my body with open up the ground under me and swallow me whole, she rubs one of her hands up and down my back as an anchor keeping me steady in the sea of my mind.

Once my breathing has gone back to normal, I can tell that Quinn I slightly uncomfortable with the way we are situated because she is moving ever so slightly almost every second, “do you wanna lean against the headboard? Or do you wanna let go and get comfortable?” that seems to catch her off guard because she jolts slightly when I turn to look at her, “ _uhm I mean, I'll let go only if you want me to, you seemed to calm down when I was, but if you're uncomfortable now then I can let go and-_ ” she stops because I let out a small laugh, “you're rambling you know,” and at that moment I swear see the slightest blush cross her cheeks, “ _pfft, no, I'm not rambling, I'm just taking your feelings into consideration, but if you want, I can lean against the headboard and get comfortable so you can finish telling me about what happened last night...you're pretty comfy…_ ” she mumbles the last part and I pretend I don't know what she says, “what was that last part, I didn't catch it,” but I know what she said, heard it clear as day. She stumbles to the headboard and stammers, “ _uh nothing, just said to get comfy so you could continue to tell me bout your nightmare,_ ” once again I laugh, and once she's ready I move in to get settled.

With my back to her chest and her arms wrapped like a safety blanket around me, the strength to continue on spurs inside me and I take another deep breath. “Okay, I'm okay, so, like I said, I saw my mom like I did on the night of her murder, I try to stop the bleeding, but I can't, there's no way that I can stop it, and her blood is now on my hands, she reaches a hand to touch my face and says, ‘this is all your fault’, and once her hand falls from my face, I feel this pain in my chest,” I shiver just thinking about it and Quinn’s arms tighten around me, “I look down and there is this massive hole in it, I turn around and see a sea of police surrounding me, their guns pointing right at me, ready for the kill, some of them have lights and others don't, with the last of the withering strength that I have, I look at my mom, then back at the sea of police and open my mouth to scream, and that's when I wake up,” shivers and shakes start to take hold of my body again and tears start to make an appearance in the corner of my eyes. I turn my head and bury it in the crook of Quinn’s neck as I start to let the tears fall and let the shaking take over, and for a split second I feel Quinn freeze up, but is taken over by her pulling me as close as she can as she whispers, “ _c'mon, let's lay down I can still hold you, but let's try to sleep okay?_ ” I nod as we slide down into the covers, Quinn always having one arm wrapped around me.

Once we are laying down, Quinn wraps both arms around me once again and pulls me as close a physically possible, which is more since we are facing each other. I bury my face into her neck once again and breathe in the smell of crisp apples, the smell of her shampoo, which helps me calm down and with the help of one of her hands running through my hair my breathing returns to normal. Sleep is upon me when she starts to hum something that sounds like an old lullaby, and for once since I ran, I fall into a blissful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3
> 
> Got Questions, my asks are always open


	7. A Decision Was Made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**

When I wake up I realize that I’m alone and I don't know what time it is, but by the looks of where the sun is, it's at least noon time, I don't even know when Quinn and I finally went to sleep. And that's when it hits me, I don't know if she got enough sleep to go in for work, god I hope she did, she had to wake up earlier, but I guess I was sleeping so heavily that I didn't notice her get up and leave.

I get up and go into the kitchen to see if there is anything that I can make. When I get there and check the time to see if I was right, and I was only one hour off, it's 1pm right now so that means there's at least 4 more hours before Quinn gets back. When I open the fridge I see that there is one of the premade sandwiches Quinn and I had the first night I was here. There's a note on the sandwich that reads, “ _hey there, I don't know when you're going to wake up, but this is the last sandwich and piece of food that we got, I'm probably going to get home a little later since I'm gonna head to the store so we have more food in the future. Hopefully you slept well and you feel better after talking last night. I’ll see you when I get home_ ”. I hum with satisfaction as I take the sandwich out and look for a cup so I don't have to drink the bottled water.

As I scour the kitchen in search for some cups, I come across what looks to be a still packaged water filter, “wow, how convenient,” I say out loud to no one in particular. So I take the filter out and get it all ready as the instructions say, once the filter itself is all rinsed out, I clean out the water tank and then start filtration process. While that's going I finally find the cabinet that holds the cups, so I snag one of them and take it back to the sink to wash it out since I don't know when the last time it was washed. When I get back to the sink to wash the cup I see that the water in the fill area is almost gone, so before I fill up my cup I fill up the filtration area first. Once that gets going then I fill up my cup and head over to the couch to eat the sandwich, when I get there I start to think of what I can do while I'm here and without anything like a phone or tv to keep myself entertained. I could clean the shack a little bit, but it doesn't seem all that dirty in the first place, so I think of something else, the house comes to mind, but I don't think I really want to go in there by myself, but I need something to do, so I just settle on going into the house to see if there's anything that I can clean in there.

After I'm done eating I make sure to throw away my trash and was the cup that I used and get my shoes on so I can head to the house. Once those are on, I check under the sink for any cleaning supplies that I may be able to use to clean. I find some rubber gloves, and cleaning stuff of various kinds, so I gather those up and head to the door to get out, once I get there it hits me that I don't have a key to lock up or get back in if I lock myself out. I sigh in defeat and go to turn back to the kitchen to put the cleaning supplies back under the sink when the glint of brass coming from the shelf of the fireplace catches my eye, turning to the fireplace I spot a key and a note that it's sitting on, “ _Oh, I almost forgot that I had a spare one of these made in case I locked myself out, I grabbed it from where I was hiding it cuz I thought that you would want to do something while I'm gone, so consider this your key to get in and out as you please. But please remember to lock up when you leave and get back in, don't want strangers magically finding this door and trashing this place too. Anyway, see you when I get home,_ ” and there's that word again, home, the way she says it, or well, writes it makes it feel real, like this is my new home, and being here with her, it might actually be my home...no no, I can't think like that, this place is just a temporary thing once I'm proven innocent. I shake my head and get ready to leave for the house.

Once I'm outside and the shack is all locked up, I make my way towards the house. The steps are still creaking and groaning, but that's a given when this house is old as shit. I open up the kitchen door and head inside, once inside I lock the door behind me and place the cleaning stuff on the kitchen counter. Taking a look around the kitchen I see that there is still the glass in the corner, so I get the gloves so I can pick it up and toss it outside where someone won't step on it. I unlock and open up the back door again, then go to grab the glass, now that I have the glass, I go outside to see where I can put it for now. I settle with putting the glass next to the stairs, the side that doesn't have the spicket for a hose. Now that that's out of the way, I head back into the house, closing the door and locking it too, and with the kitchen floor cleared I can clean the counters without having to worry about stepping on something, and that's what I do, the counters are pretty dirty, like dusty, so I grab one of the hand towels and wipe down the counters as best I can before I start to spray anything on them. With the dust out of the way, I whip the towel to get the dust out so I can use it to wipe down the counters after they've been sprayed.

After I'm done with the counters I grab the broom and sweep up whatever I can and push it out the door, and now with the kitchen clean I head to the living room with my broom and cleaning supplies. There isn't really anything major to do in the living room, but I can take the rug and like, whip it out to see what is in it. So with the gloves on I carefully fold the rug and take it to the kitchen door so I can clear it out, the rug isn't that big so it's pretty easy to pick up. After I get back to the kitchen door, I whip out the rug from the doorway, and guess what happened, I got dust right in my eyes, I close my eyes and put the rug on the kitchen floor and close the kitchen door as well as lock it. “God fucking damnit, why have you forsaken me,” I say blinking a lot and looking up at the cealing. It takes a good ten minutes for me to finally regain my sight, but I need to clean the rug still, so I open up the door again and this time I close my eyes and then whip the rug out. I can feel the dust hit me in the face again, but at least I don't have it in my eyes again.

With the rug as clean as it can be I return it back to where it was in the living room and get ready to sweep up the floor to the best of my ability and sweep it out the back door, and now that that's done, I realize that I'm bored, so I gather my things, put the broom back where it was and head back to the shack. I open the door and put the cleaning supplies on the floor before I head up inside myself. Picking the ladder back up, then closing then locking the door back up, I return the cleaning supplies back under the sink, I check the clock and it's about 4:30, I then head to the bathroom to wash my hands and my face because the dust is starting to settle and it doesn't feel good, it feels like how dirty I was before Quinn let me stay here. When I get into the bathroom, I was my hands then splash some water on my face and when I look in the mirror afterwards, I see the little scars that I've accumulated over the couple days of running. I reach up and run my fingers over each of them. Some of them are small, and some of them are a little bigger, but not big enough to draw too much attention to myself. I splash water on my face again and bring my eyes to my reflection once more, then I close my eyes thinking of my experience being on the run and what it was like.

God, being on the run was terrible, not as terrible as seeing my mom die in front of me and being almost taken for something that I didn't do, but it was a really close third. I don't really even know how I got here, I just started running out my backyard in a direction that I didn't care I was going, just somewhere the cops couldn't find me or get me easily. My backyard had an easy to open fence gate that lead into the field/woods behind my house. Once out and in the woods, I picked a direction and went with it. That initial direction brought me closer to a street, and when I saw flashing blue and red lights, I made a quick turn and sped out of there in another direction that I made sure wasn't towards my house again. I had to run the whole time until I got here, I really don't even know where here is. But I had to crawl through some bushes, and that's where I got some of these smaller scratches on my face, the brush got me because I couldn't hold a hand out to keep me protected and push away the branches. Be bigger scars though, those are from when I tripped and fell face first into dirt, twigs and small rocks.

I remember the feeling of my lungs constantly burning, how my legs would ache and how my feet felt like they were going to fall off, there is still a lingering pain in my legs whenever I stand too fast, my lungs still hurt if I breathe in too deeply, and being on my feet for too long makes them start to ache. This tragedy not only left me physically scared, but mentally as well. Seeing someone you love dearly, the only person that truly cared about you, die in front of you will really tear your brain up. Even though I know it's not my fault, I can't get the image out of my mind, the picture is to vivid to forget. I just wish that this never happened. Now I'm practically being hunted, I don't even know where I am, and my heart yearns to be back with my mom, to be able to go home and see that she cooked me my favorite meal. I just want to go back to a normal life, but I know that's not going to happen as long as I'm still wanted. There is nothing more that I want than being able to go back to my normal life, but maybe being here isn't so bad because I have someone that really believes in me, someone that knows how I feel about the situation and has faith in me that justice will come, and I will be proven innocent.

I'm gripping the sink like it's my lifeline and breathing as normally as I can, I can feel tears pricking at my eyes as I try to keep them in. I'm too in my own thoughts that I didn't hear to shack door open or hear anyone come in behind me. Quinn wraps her arms around me letting me know that she's here and that she will listen if I want to talk, and I don't, so I just turn in her arms and hug her back as tight as I can. I never asked her what she does for work, but her hold on me is so firm yet soft, like if she were to squeeze me too hard I'll break. She doesn't speak a word and just holds me close. She's a little taller than me, but tall enough that she can rest her chin on my head when we stand. 

Being in her arms makes me feel better, the world comes back to me in slow waves. I know that I'm still in the same situation I was before she got home, but it doesn't hit me as hard as it usually does, so I finally relax, practically melting into her body, trying to get as close as possible. The tears are gone and I let out a content sigh, which is countered by a small laugh from Quinn and I look up at her, “ _you know you can't fall asleep like this, I know I'm comfortable and all, but you will fall out of my arms, and I won't be able to catch you,_ ” she says while looking down and grinning at me. I smile and just nuzzle back into her neck and hug her tighter, she lets out a laugh that I can hear and feel as she squeezes me tighter too. We stay in each others arms for a bit longer before she pats my back, “ _I have frozens that need to be put away. Mind helping me with the groceries,_ ” it's a small ask, but I nod, “of course, you got the food, its the least I can do is help out around here,” she lets out another deep laugh, “ _okay okay, let's go then before they become not frozens,_ ” she keeps an arm around my shoulder as we leave the bathroom.

When we reach the kitchen I see that there are some bags on the counter and food in them ready to be put away. “So what did you get? Like food food or snacks,” I ask as we approach the bags, “ _I only got snacks because those have all the nutrients that we need and not a lot of sugar that will most definitely give diabetes,_ ” she says in a deadpan voice, I chuckle and shove her away when we reach the counter. I look into the bags and I see that there are snacks but also some eggs, a half gallon of milk, lunch meats as well as easy to cook meals, frozen and in packets, there are also lunch meats, condiments and of course, bread, there are some meats that can be put in the freezer, so I go for the frozen stuff first. “Do you want me to like, separate some of these so we know what goes where,” I ask as Quinn opens the fridge and freezer, then she spots the water filter, “ _Oh I see you found where I put that, I've been meaning to use it but haven't had the time or was too lazy, but yeah, could you please, it would be easier and quicker,_ ” she says as she comes over to help me.

I gather the frozen things and set them closest to the fridge so we can put those away first, there are also a couple of meats that Quinn puts by the frozen foods showing that those are going in the freezer too. The lunch meat, condiments, eggs and a thing of milk go in the second pile since those are going in the fridge and then there's the snacks, bread and surprisingly cereal; go into the cabinets since those are dry foods that don't need to be refrigerated or frozen. Once the groceries are put away we both get cups of water and go to sit on the couch for a little bit.

“So how was work? I don't think I ever asked you what you did, and you don't have to answer, just curious is all,” I ask as I take a sip of my water, “you know, we should also get reusable water bottles, so we don't have to clean cup every time we want water or waste plastic water bottles,” she laughs, “ _I was thinking about water bottles actually, would be useful since I'd be able to take it to work with me, and I work at the supermarket close by, that's why I get home pretty fast, and how I can get food for pretty cheap. My boss is really understanding when it comes to my situation, so she lets me get food for cheaper than regular customers, plus the discount that I get, so don't worry about how much I spent on groceries,_ ” she says as she finishes her water, “ _you want some more,_ ” she asks, I nod and drink the rest before she gets up to refill our cups. “Hey Quinn, I think it would be nice having your friends come over, so I could meet new people and maybe get more people on my side…” I say nervously while messing with my hands. Next thing I know I hear a thump and then a long stream of profanities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3
> 
> Got Questions, my asks are always open


	8. The Calm Before The Anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**

After Quinn is done swearing and takes her head out of the fridge with a hand rubbing where I'm pretty sure she hit on the bottom of the freezer door, she looks at me excited but obviously cautious. “ _You sure? Like you're really ready to meet more people you don't need to say they can come over just because they want to, this is your decision, I don't want to make you feel like you-_ ” she goes on until I cut her off. “Quinn, calm down, you're rambling again, and I'm sure, I gotta meet new people, and I think your friends would be a good start,” I smile at her and then I see something glint in her eyes. Quinn closes the fridge then comes barreling towards me, and I can't get out of her way fast enough as she practically tackles me off of the couch and onto the floor.

We land on the ground with a thud and in a heaping mess of tangled limbs. I kinda got the wind knocked out of me so I'm trying to catch my breath when Quinn pulls me into a very tight hug, “ _oh man this is gonna be great, I'll see if they can bring over their games, board games and video games, I think one of them has a projector that we can use so all four of us can play together, they can bring over some food too and oh-_ ” she keeps going on and on, “QUINN I NEED TO BREATHE,” I finally get out, “ _Oh right, sorry,_ ” she finally lets me go and I gasp for air like I'm coming out of the water. “Christ Quinn you almost killed me, first tackling me off the couch, knocking the air outta me, then hug me so tight I couldn't breathe, are you crazy,” I say as I dissolve into giggles. Quinn just stares at me, then falls into laughter along side me. When we are done with our laugh attack she looks at me as we still lie on the floor, “ _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited that you wanna meet my friends, this is a big step and I'm proud of you,_ ” she pulls me into another hug, but this one is more gentle.

We just lay there for longer than we expected and I have the feeling that she fell asleep, but I know she's not when she finally gets up and goes back to the fridge to get our water. “So when are your friends able to come over, I don't mind them coming over soon. The sooner I meet people the better it will be for my anxiety to die down a bit,” I finish as she's coming back over with our waters. “ _Well, it is still Friday, so maybe they can come over tomorrow since none of us have work, and if that works for you then I can message them later,_ ” she says as she sits down on the floor next to me. “Tomorrow sounds good to me, what do you think we’re gonna do? I was pretty good at games before I ran, so maybe those would help calm me down too, but whatever you wanna do, I'm just glad that I'll be meeting new people,” I say as I sip my water. Quinn nods and drinks some of hers, “ _then it's settled, I'll message them later and we can set things up, I'll make sure they bring food since I don't wanna dig into our supply other than tonight, speaking of, what do you want for dinner?_ ”

We both get up off the floor and head to the fridge and take a look at the food we have. In the freezer there are some frozen meals, there's pasta, orange chicken, meat and potatoes kinda deal, some hot pockets too. The orange chicken sounds nice so I suggest that and Quinn nods and leaves to preheat the oven and get a cookie tray ready as that's what it says to use to cook the chicken. I put the chicken next to the oven for Quinn to open and put on the tray and I get the plates ready and refill our water cups. After the chicken is in the oven it says to heat up the sauce until we can get it out of the packet, it says to heat up some water in a bowl then put the sauce in it so it warms up gradually. We work in silence as we get dinner ready. The timer for the chicken finally goes off and the sauce is as melted as it's gonna get, so we get a bowl and put both in, making sure that everything is coated evenly as possible, but there ends up being some sauce still at the bottom of the bowl which is fine. We get the plates ready and head back to the couch.

After we settle down Quinn pulls up some videos to watch on her phone, while watching one of the videos a message pops up from a person named Frankie, “ **So when are we allowed to come over? You haven't really told us why you've been stalling,** ” and then another message from someone named Ayden comes on the screen, “ _ **Yeah dude, when can we come over, we wanna see the place and what you've done with it**_ ”. Quinn sighs and grabs the phone to reply, “ _sorry bout them, they just miss me I guess,_ ” just as she's typing a video call comes in, she tells me to get out of the frame so they don't see me and possibly freak out, after I'm on the floor she nods and answers the call, “ _hey guys, whats up?_ ” Quinn says in a voice so monotone I almost laugh, but keep it in.

“ **Whats up? Whats up, really Quinn? You've practically been avoiding us like we have the plague,** ” a feminine voice comes through, “ _ **yeah, like we haven't been to your place in forever, and miss you. What's been going on Q, do you not like us anymore?**_ ” another voice comes through, more masculine this time. I look at her and mouth, “Q? Really?” and she just flips me off, and I have to stifle a laugh, “ _I'm sorry guys I've just been super busy, with work and finally taking a look at the house, you guys know how it is. But, you guys can come over tomorrow, but you have to bring your own food as well as some food for me, I just went shopping and I don't wanna eat all my food just yet,_ ” Quinn says with a small smile on her face.

“ **OH YEAH, HELL YEAH! We’ve missed you bitch, anything in particular you want us to bring over?** ” the female voice asks, and Quinn glances at me quickly and I shake my head, I'm not too picky. “ _Uh no, nothing in particular, just something good I guess, oh, and bring some games too. Ayden do you still have your switch and projector,_ ” and as if on queue the masculine voice, which I'm guessing is Ayden, lets out a hoot.

“ _ **You bet your ass I still have them, I'll gather my things tonight and put ‘em in a bag so I don't forget tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow when can we come over?**_ ” Quinn looks at me again and I mouth very carefully, “when we wake up I guess,” she gives a small nod, “ _I'll just message you guys when I wake up, I wanna get ready and clean up a little more before you guys get here._ ” The more feminine voice, which I'm guessing is Frankie chimes in this time, “ **okay, sounds good to me, I'm excited to see you again Quinn,** ” then Ayden jumps in, “ _ **yeah what she said, can't wait to see you hoe,**_ ” and Quinn laughs, “ _can't wait to see you guys too, I'll message you guys when I get up, now if you excuse me, I'm gonna finish my dinner, see you guys tomorrow,_ ” the duo on the other end say their goodbyes and hang up.

Quinn sighs and puts her phone down and rests her head against the back of the couch and closes her eyes. “What's wrong Q,” I snort, “not happy to see your friends?” she just glares at me, but smiles then shakes her head, “ _just sit down and eat your damn food before it gets cold,_ ” I mock salute and say, “yes ma’am,” then take my place next to her on the couch. She resumes the videos we were watching as we eat the rest of our dinner in silence other than our laughs if the video was funny. After the food is gone, we both get up and go to wash our dishes. By the time we were done washing the dishes it was almost midnight, “jeez, when did it get so late,” I mumble and Quinn looks over at the microwave to see the time, “ _oh man, you're right, we start getting ready for bed. If you need the shower you can use it, I'm not showering tonight,_ ” she dries her hands and then hands the towel to me.

“Yeah, I need a shower, I'm pretty sure I still have dust in my eyes from that damn rug,” I laugh and toss the towel at her face, “payback,”. She laughs and put it on the counter, “ _I'm guessing you went into the house? You clean it up a little, I know that there isn't really any saving it right now, it would look too suspicious if it was just magically fixing itself,_ ” she says as we head to the bathroom.

She brushes her teeth and I go to the room to get a change of clothes. There's another pair of sweats and what looks to be a hoodie, so I grab those along with some underwear and socks then head to the bathroom to shower. When I get there Quinn is just finishing up brushing her teeth, she wipes her mouth and starts to leave, “ _bathroom is all yours,_ ” she says as she passes by. Once she's in the room I head into the bathroom, close the door and lock it, then get ready for my shower. I finally get to wash off the dust that has collected on my body from just being in the house and cleaning it today and I'm able to wash away the worries of today and replace them with the worries of tomorrow, because I'm meeting new people and it'll be an adventure for sure.

After I'm done in the shower I get dressed, brush my teeth then head out and into the bedroom. When I get there I see Quinn staring at the ceiling with her phone lighting up what seems like every second, she sighs and still doesn't notice that I came into the room, so as revenge I throw my wet towel at her face like she did to me last night. When the towel hits is when she freaks out in a comical way, then it looks like she plays dead because her body goes limp.

I laugh and head over to her side of the bed and remove the towel from her face. Once it's removed I see that she has her tongue sticking out like someone who is playing dead. I almost snort with laughter, but keep it in as I say, “oh woe is me, I have killed the only person to believe me, oh who is going to take me in, a murderer, a runaway, oh woe is me,” I finish with some fake crying while sitting next to the “dead” Quinn. I peak through my hands and see that she's still playing dead so I keep fake crying.

Next thing I know is I'm being grabbed and pulled onto the bed by the “undead” Quinn. I squeal in surprise as she's laughing next to me, pulling me close and cuddling into my neck, and I break into laughter because it kinda tickles. My back is to her chest and her arms are around me, strong but gentle as always. Between giggles I say, “amazing! Absolutely astonishing, she has come back to life, who would have known!” and that makes her laugh even more. “ _I have come back from the dead to get my revenge against the one who has killed me, and that person is YOU!!_ ” then she lets out a tickle assault against me, and I can only hold her off for a little bit, but after my arms are finally sore I give in and she gets my sides and I burst out into laughter. “QUINN QUINN NO STOP AHAHAHA, I CAN'T BREATHE STOP HAHA STOP,” she finally lets up, “ _that's what you get for throwing your wet towel at me,_ ” she sticks her tongue out at me as she's looking down at me since she is still on top of me from tickling me.

“You did-” I smile as I catch my breath. “You did it first, so I had to get you back,” she just smiles and brings me close again, and to be honest, I'm not complaining, but I don't want to get too attached. She nuzzles into my hair this time, and it's still pretty wet so she reels back and wipes her face with her hand, “ _dude your hair is hella wet, did you not dry it,_ ” “well I was in the process of drying it when I saw you spacing and your phone going off like crazy,” I sit up and grab my towel from the end of the bed to finish drying my hair and Quinn lets out a groan.

“ _Yeah, Frankie and Ayden have been messaging me nonstop since I said that they could come over,_ ” she says with a groans again and I just laugh as I finish drying my hair and set my towel to dry on the dresser. I plop down on the bed and roll over to face Quinn as she stares at her phone, “so what are they saying?” she doesn't say anything and just hands me her phone, there are messages still coming in like crazy, luckily the phone is actually open and not locked because with the amount of messages coming through, it would be vibrating nonstop.

There are messages from both friends, some like, “ **Oh man I can't wait to see Quinn’s place again, Quinn I can't wait to see your place again,** ” and others more along the lines of, “ _ **you think the reason she hasn't invited us over is because she's banging someone and she doesn't want us to meet them? Because that seems like the likeliest thing right now,**_ ” and I laugh at that one. Quinn peeks over to her phone and reads the one I just did and tries to snatch her phone away from me, but I move just in time and read more out loud, “ **OH MAN, maybe that's true! Think about it, why wouldn't she want us to come over after all this time, she's been ‘busy,’ MEANING SHE'S GETTING SOME ACTION AHAHAHA, YES QUINN FUCK IT UUUUPPPP** ” and after that one I lose it and start having a laughing fit, and at this point Quinn finally got her phone back to message the other two back.

After I'm done laughing and she's done furiously messaging them back, we finally settle into bed, “ _you know I hate you sometimes, that was not nice to read those embarrassing messages out loud to no one in particular,_ ” she snorts, and I retort with, “oh I KNOW, I'm the absolute worst. Now I bet that you regret having me here, I will embarrass you in front of all your friends and make sure that I'm the ultimate friend when everything is done,” I giggle and turn on my side to go to sleep. Quinn wraps her arm around me and snuggles into my back, “ _I knew you were secretly a super villian, how could I have been so dumb,_ ” she mumbles as we fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3
> 
> Got Questions, my asks are always open


	9. Friends Of A Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**   
>  **Frankie**   
>  _**Ayden** _   
> 

By the time I wake up Quinn is still sleeping and still wrapped around me, but now my face is in her chest. The sun is up, but not the, “it's still morning,” kinda up, but more of a, “it's almost noon, but not past noon,” kinda up. With the sun in the place it is, I try to wiggle my way out of Quinn’s hold only to have her squeeze me tighter. “Oh god, I didn't know you were this cuddly, who knew,” I mumbled, finally freeing myself of her grasp. I wiggle out of bed and head to the bathroom to get ready and brush my teeth, after I brush my teeth I head to the kitchen to make some eggs for Quinn and I, and since I don't know how Quinn likes her eggs, I just make them scrambled, you can't really go wrong with scrambled eggs. I find the salt, then snag four eggs from the fridge as well as the milk so the eggs come out kinda fluffy. With all of the ingredients laid out on the counter, I get to work.

When the eggs are almost done I hear a loud thud come from the room and then a very disheveled and panicked looking Quinn comes barreling down the hallway and into the living room. I slightly curl into myself just in case she comes over and runs into me on accident, but when I peak over my shoulder, our eyes meet and the look in her eyes soften and she finally calms down, and she smiles at me then lets out a sigh of what seems to be relief.

I uncurl myself and look at the eggs because it looks like they're burning, so I panic and quickly flip them to make sure that it's cooked evenly. Quinn then comes and wraps her arms around me and puts her face into my shoulder and she relaxes even more. “ _Please don't scare me like that again, I didn't know where you went, and I didn't hear you get up, so when I woke up and you weren't there I thought the worst happened,_ ” she murmured into my shoulder. My body relaxes and melts into hers as I finish up our eggs, “well, I wasn't going to wake you up just to tell you that I was going to make breakfast, and maybe clean up a little bit, you seemed like you were sleeping pretty well,” I pat her hands and turn the stove off.

She gets the plates and forks then we head to the couch to eat before we clean the shack just a little more so Quinn’s friends can come over. “ _I wasn't sleeping that well…_ ” she mumbles as she shovels some eggs into her mouth, and when she does her eyes twinkle as she starts eating the eggs a little faster, “ _oh my god dude, these are so good, I could never get my eggs to taste like this,_ ” and I just look at her like she's crazy, “ _what,_ ” she questions before she puts another bite of eggs into her mouth, “you know, I didn't do anything special right? I just got the eggs, salt and some milk, I usually like my eggs with some cheese, but we don't have any,” I say as I take a bite of my own eggs and she just shrugs, “ _well, these are pretty good,_ ” and she finishes her eggs. Shortly after she finishes her eggs I eat the rest of mine and hand her my plate because she offers to take it.

After the plates are thrown away and the forks are clean, we then start on cleaning what we can in the shack, and there isn't really much to clean other than to dust some things off like the mantle of the fireplace and some other areas of the shack that haven't really been touched. Once that's all done, we take turns showering, Quinn goes first then me, and since I still don't really have any clothes, I just put the clothes I slept in back on, and walk into the bedroom and see Quinn drying her hair.

“You know I'm gonna need new clothes soon? Or at least clothes of my own,” I say as I fix the hoodie so it's comfortable, and Quinn just stares at me for a second before she says anything, “ _you're in my hoodie…_ ” and she just leaves it there, “uh, yeah, I didn't wanna wear the shirt, but I can go put it back on if-” “ _NO IT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU IT'S FINE, YOU CAN KEEP IT,_ ” and with that she stops and closes her eyes like she said something wrong, and I just laugh. “You know, when you get nervous or maybe it's flustered, you start to ramble and kinda yell,” she just groans as I go over and hug her, she hugs me back and mumbles into my shoulder, “ _you can keep the hoodie, I don't wear it anymore,_ ” and I just squeeze her to let her know my thanks.

After we let go of each other Quinn texts her friends and tells them that they can come over, and they say they'll be there in a couple of minutes, and that's when the anxiety starts, what if her friends don't like me and call the cops, what if they just start yelling at me and tell me to leave, what if...then there are arms wrapped around me again and my body melts into hers, relishing in the warmth that can only come from her. “ _I know you're nervous, but they're just really big idiots, and they'll listen to me if I say that you're cool, because you are cool,_ ” she says to soothe my nerves as she hugs me tighter as if trying to stop the cracks of anxiety from getting any bigger.

We stay like that until we hear a specific knock where the shack door is, and we look at each other, “ _looks like they're here, _” she says with a soft smile of reassurance, “ _I can close the door so you can get ready and prepare yourself to meet them,_ ” she squeezes my shoulder and leaves me in the room so I can calm my nerves. Once the door is closed, I go to sit on the bed, take a deep breath and close my eyes. Just be me, that's all I need to do, just breathe, Quinn will be there to help me and vouch for me, I'll be okay, I need to do this, being able to talk to other people would be nice.__

When I open my eyes again, there is a small knock coming from the door and then Quinn comes in, “ _you doing okay? You ready to come out? If not I can just say my room is a mess, they'll understand,_ ” she says in a hushed voice, and I nod, “I'm ready to meet them, just can I walk behind you just in case they freak out or something, please,” and she nods and takes my hand, “ _of course, I'll be with you this whole ride, don't worry,_ ” she smiles at me and squeezes my hand, then takes me out of the room.

With the room behind us, there's no going back now. I stand behind Quinn, my hand still in hers, as she calls to her friends, “ _hey guys, I want you to meet someone, but you have to promise to give ‘em a chance,_ ” she says kinda nervously. Frankie is the first one to speak up, “ **of course Quinn, I'm sure whoever they are is gonna be fine, you know you can trust us,** ” then Ayden, “ _ **yeah dude, don't worry, we’ll keep an open mind just for you,**_ ” with a small smile on her face she looks at me and the question ‘ _are you ready_ ’ is in her eyes, I give her a small nod and squeeze her hand. “ _Okay guys, I want you to meet-_ ” she says as she pulls me out, and her friends eyes go wide, “ **it's you…** ” Frankie whispers, “ _ **what are you doing here,**_ ” Ayden practically hisses at me and I hide behind Quinn again.

“ _What are you guys doing, I just brought them out and you're already scaring them, I thought you guys were better than this,_ ” Quinn hisses back. Frankie is quiet and looking at her hands, but Ayden stands up and I hide further behind Quinn slightly shaking, “ _ **yeah, we’re better than this when meeting regular people, not murderers,**_ ” he almost shouts and I close my eyes. “ _You haven't even heard their story Ayden, why're you already making assumptions when you can hear the story from their perspective, the news isn't always right and you fucking know that,_ ” I open my eyes again and see that the fight has dissipated out of Ayden and now he just stands there with slumped shoulders, “ _ **fine fine, I'll listen, but I swear to god, you have explaining to do, don't think I’ll let this go so easily,**_ ” he says with a sigh and sits back down.

“ _C'mon, lets go sit with them, I promise Frankie won't bite, no promises on Ayden though,_ ” she says with a small laugh, “ _ **hey come on that was one time,**_ ” he says with a huff and I smile, maybe they won't be so bad. We make our way over to the couch and sit down, I'm closer to the arm of the couch because I'm still nervous about getting too close right now. “ _Will you guys keep an open mind, please, they don't mean any harm and because of Ayden you just gave them anxiety again after they calmed themselves down in the room,_ ” Quinn says as she gives my hand a little squeeze, “ **yeah, of course, people should get second chances, so I understand, right Ayden?** ” she asks, and Ayden just looks at his hands and I know he feels bad, “ _ **yeah, you're right,**_ ” he mumbles. Frankie then turns to me and smiles, “ **alright, go ahead, we’ll listen,** ” and I look at Quinn who just smiles and nods. With the conformation that it's okay to tell my story, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“I know you know who I am, I'm all over the news right now, and the cops are still looking for me, but I do appreciate that you're willing to listen, even though you might not really be willing, it's still appreciate nonetheless,” I start and let out the breath that I've been holding in, “you don't have to trust me, because having Quinn trust me is more than enough to keep me sane and hopeful, but at least let me tell you my side of what happened…” and I start to tell them how everything happened. “I was on my way home from my friends house, I went over early in the morning to help her with some homework before school. But when I got to my house, my father was in the kitchen and looked like he was washing the dishes, which he never did, so I knew something was wrong,” and the events of the day come back to me like a tidal wave, he's usually never in the kitchen other than to get a beer, and then go back to the living room to watch whatever he was watching, but he never went to the sink, that was always my or my moms job. So seeing him at the kitchen sink through the window, I immediately knew something was off.

I take in a ragged breath and Quinn squeezes my hand as they start to tremble a little, but I push forward, “I rushed into the house as fast as I could, and by the time I got inside, my father was already on the couch with a beer like he usually is. I start looking around the house for my mom, and when I find her, she's on the floor, with a gunshot to her stomach, but the gun nowhere in sight. The only person who ever had a gun in the house was my father. But there was so much blood, getting into the carpet, on my clothes, and on my hands,” my body starts to shake heavily now, and Quinn wraps her arms around me to keep me grounded, and I push on.

“With her last breath and the inevitable sirens ringing in my head, she sends me off with ‘go, I know you’ll do the right thing, I'll be watching over you, I love you’ and she was gone. I stayed with her until I actually heard the sirens coming for me. And that's when I started running, I ran from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night when Quinn found me and saved me from the cops, I don't know how they got here, but they kicked in the house door then came into the back, but Quinn threw a box over the fence for me so I could get out from under one of the cars, and well, I've been here ever since.”

Frankie and Ayden look at me with wide eyes again and then look at Quinn for her part of the story, and she scratches the back of her neck, “ _well I wasn't the most welcoming person on the planet, I kinda freaked out when I saw them crawl from under one of the cars,_ ” she trailed off, and I smile as I poke her, “you're gonna tell them you held me at knife point right,” I tease and she stutters like the mess she is, “ _uh duh, like I was gonna keep that to myself, haha. *sigh* yeah, I held them at knife point until I saw their face,_ ” she admits, and her friends are shocked, but Ayden lets out a laugh, “ _ **so you fucking held them at knife point without even giving them a chance to explain, sounds like someone doesn't know the meaning of a warm welcome,**_ ” Ayden teases, but Quinn just glares at him, “ _look whos talking,_ ” she fires back with some snark to her voice, that just makes him laugh even harder, and even Frankie has a small smile on her face and a hand covering her mouth.

“ **Well, I have to think over your story, but with how you reacted, I can tell that you didn't really kill her, I don't know about this knucklehead over here** ” and Ayden lets out a little, “ _ **Hey,**_ ” and Frankie continues, " **but I would like to get to know you more over games and food, I'm starving,** ” she says as she gets up from the couch, “ _oh man food sounds great what'd you bring, something good I hope,_ ” Quinn says as she pulls me off the couch and into the kitchen, but before I get off the couch I cast a glance at Ayden who is just glaring at me, but I just look away and at Quinn, she's not facing me but she has the biggest smile on her face, and I smile knowing that she's having a good time, or at least she's glad that I'm having a good time.

Before we get into the kitchen, Ayden calls over to Quinn, “ _ **Hey Q, can I talk to you real quick,**_ ” and Quinn looks over at him questioningly, as does Frankie, but she has a bit of a frown on her face, and he's just standing in the hallway with his arms crossed. Quinn sighs and gives me an apologetic smile, and gives my hand one last squeeze before she lets go and reluctantly goes to talk to Ayden. When the bedroom door closes I start to get nervous again, but I walk up to Frankie to see what food there is, “so what'd you get? It smells great,” I open up with, and that seems to make her frown not so big, but she's not smiling yet.

“ **Oh nothing too special, Quinn said that it didn't matter, so we got take-out, we have orange chicken, fried rice, some broccoli beef, and I think some sweet and sour chicken, I don't remember. You can start getting your food unless you wanna wait for the other two,** ” she says and I send a nervous glance at the bedroom door. Frankie sighs, “ **I'm sorry about Ayden, I don't know whats gotten into him for him to be this hostile, I get that he might not believe, but it's not like we can get another side of the story, I can tell you were telling the truth when you were telling us your story and usually he would have at least warmed up a little bit, but I don't know why he's like this…** ” she says while holding her chin in thought and that's when the yelling starts.

“ _ **WHY ARE YOU KEEPING A MURDERER IN YOUR FUCKING HOUSE? HOW DO YOU FUCKING TRUST SOMEONE LIKE THAT, HUH? THEY FUCKING KILLED SOMEONE AND YOU'RE OKAY WITH THAT?**_ ” a muffled Ayden comes from the door.

“ _WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR DAMN PROBLEM! THEY JUST SPILLED THEIR HEART TO YOU AND YOU STILL WANNA ACT LIKE A TOTAL ASSHOLE? You don't even know them, you don't know what they've been through, and I wont fucking stand for you to be mad at someone who has done nothing wrong,_ ” Quinn says as she defends me.

“ _ **Done nothing wrong? DONE NOTHING WRONG?! You're telling me that there is nothing wrong with taking another person's life? There's nothing wrong with killing someone and making up a sob story just to get people to trust you? If that was the fucking case then the goddamn police wouldn’t be after the person you're hiding right now,**_ ” Ayden says, and at this point I'm shaking and I've slid down to the floor, I wrap my arms around my knees and rest my head in my arms. I know Frankie is looking at me, I can feel it, and I know that she wants to go into the room to tell them to stop yelling, but she's contemplating on what to do.

While I'm busy over analyzing things, I feel a hand on my shoulder and immediately flinch away and up, hitting my head on the small lip of the counter, “ah fuck,” is the only thing I say as I hold my head, and try to get away from the hand that touched me and unbeknownst to me, the arguing has stopped and the bedroom door has been thrown open.

I slump back down to the floor, holding my head as I slide myself into one of the corners of the kitchen. I don't hear the door swing open, and I don't hear the protesting Ayden say, “ _ **hey we weren’t done talking,**_ ” or Quinn snap, “ _yes we were, now get the fuck out of my room,_ ” then whisper, “ _Frankie, please go take his phone, I don't want him calling the cops, they don't deserve this,_ ” or Frankie’s footsteps down the hall to get Ayden to giver her his phone, or Quinn try to snap me out of the panic attack I'm having.

And like the night we met, she touches my shoulder and I don't register that it's her, so I start swatting at the hand, then both hands grab me and I want to scream. The hands pull me into a warm body, a body that smells like fresh apples, a warm body that feels like fresh hot chocolate in your favorite mug, a warm body that feels familiar...then the world comes back to me slowly and then I hear her, “ _please, please come back to me, I'm sorry we were yelling, I didn't mean it, I promise we’re done, just come back to me please,_ ” she practically begs, and her voice cracks, and I can feel something wet on my head. Once I'm back in the present enough, I realize that with the position we are in now, I can't really breathe.

“Quinn, I need to breathe, can't breathe,” I struggle out as she gasps and lets me go. “ _Oh my god I'm so sorry, I just knew that holding you calmed you down, and you were having a panic attack, and I didn't want it to get worse, and I'm rambling again, I'm sorry, I was just worried,_ ” she says as she scoots behind me to hold me again, but in a better position for both of us. Once we’re comfortable, I melt into her body again and cast a glance at the hallway where Frankie and Ayden were arguing in hushed whispers.

Frankie casts a nervous glance at me, then her gaze turns furious when she sees the state that I'm in, and she looks back at Ayden who is looking at me, there's an apology somewhere in his eyes, but he turns his head back to Frankie but can't meet her eyes, and that's when she starts to reprimand him, then she holds out her hand and he silently gives her his phone, she puts it in her back pocket then points at the couch and tells him to sit down and get his act together.

“ _We can go to the room if you want, we can lay down for a little if you want, or we can just stay here, anything is fine with me as long as you're comfortable,_ ” Quinn says as she holds me tighter, and I just put my face in the crook of her neck, not wanting to move. “no, it's okay, I'm comfortable right here, plus I'm getting hungry anyways, and the food is getting cold,” I say as I nuzzle into her neck one more time before standing up and heading to the space between the hallway and the couch.

“I think we should eat,” I say while glancing at both Frankie and Ayden, “if we don't eat now then the food will get cold, and food isn't the same when warmed up in a microwave,” I finish with a smile on my face. Frankie nods with a small smile and heads to the kitchen to pick Quinn off the floor, and then I glance at Ayden, and he looks in my eyes seeing if the story I told was a lie, and when he doesn't find the look of a liar, then he nods as well and gets up to head to the kitchen, and when he passes by me, he puts a gentle hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze with a sad, apologetic smile on his face.

When I look towards the kitchen, I see that Quinn hasn't taken her eyes off of me since I got up from the floor. She finally glances over at Frankie and Ayden who are talking quietly while getting their food. I can tell that she's glaring at Ayden who has his back to her, but then she looks away with a deep sigh, then heads over to me and wraps me in a hug. “ _I really don't know what got into him, but I'm really sorry about the yelling. I just got so carried away with defending you, I don't think anyone should be accused like he accused you,_ ” she practically whispers into my hair.

“ _I'm really sorry about raising my voice, even in another room and not in front of you, I should have kept that in mind as soon as I knew that Ayden wanted to talk to me,_ ” this time her voice cracks just that smallest amount, I feel her hug me tighter and then her shoulders shake just the slightest bit, and I know she's on the verge of crying. I pull back and rest my forehead on hers as she continues, “ _I don't want you to ever be scared of me, if I do anything that is uncomfortable, or makes you feel unsafe, please tell me and I will fix it immediately,_ ” she says, letting some silent tears fall.

“Hey, shh shh, it's okay, I promise, I just wasn't expecting it from you, but I will let you know if anything makes me feel uncomfortable or unsafe, but I've felt the safest when I'm with you,” I say as I wipe away the tears on Quinn’s face, and that seems to bring a small smile to her face as she leans into my touch. “Now come on you big baby, the food is getting cold and the others are probably waiting for us,” I say as I wipe the rest of her tears away before letting go. She closes her eyes and composes herself before she heads back to the kitchen, so I leave her to it, when I turn to head to the kitchen I see that Frankie and Ayden most likely saw the whole thing. Frankie has a small smile on her face and Ayden has a smirk on his, and seeing their faces make my cheeks heat up.

Their faces stay the same as they walk over to the couch, and when they pass me they both let out a ‘nice,’ and continue to the couch. At that point I'm pretty sure my face is on fire with how hot it feels, but I shake my head and grab some food. By the time I'm almost done grabbing the food that I want, Quinn comes next to me looking like how I did when I first passed our two guests. I see this as the perfect opportunity to poke some fun at Quinn, “you okay? You're lookin a little red there, you running a fever,” I say as I go to place my hand on her forehead, and as soon as my hand lightly touches it, she blurts out, “ _NO I'M OKAY, THANK YOU FOR CARING_ ”.

When I pull away my hand, I just stare at Quinn for a second, then I feel laughter bubble inside until it all spills out in uncontrollable gasps making my stomach hurt. I have to put my plate down due to the chance that I might drop it with how hard I'm laughing. I eventually gather myself enough to look over at the couch where Frankie and Ayden are sitting and when I see that they are dying of laughter too, Frankie’s head is thrown back in laughter, and Ayden is trying to suppress his giggles behind his hand.

I look back at Quinn, trying to suppress my own giggles, and she is just standing there mortified at what just happened. She's not moving and it looks like she's not even breathing, or at least she doesn't want to because of what happened. When I meet her eyes she just looks at me like I have committed treason, but the corners of her mouth twitch up just the smallest amount, and I just give her an easy smile as I grab my plate and head into the living room with the other two. That seems to snap her out of her trance as she hurriedly gathers food on her plate and comes to the couch to sit next to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome  
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3  
> Got Questions, my asks are always open


	10. Food and Gaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You (first person)   
>  _Quinn_   
>  **Other/Side character**   
>  **Frankie**   
>  _**Ayden** _

Once Quinn and I are comfortably seated on the couch, everyone resumes eating their food. It's pretty quiet, and a little bit awkward, but the food is good, so I can't complain about that, but something about the air around me is giving me the chills. I can still feel the anger coming off of Quinn towards Ayden, and the guild that radiates from Ayden almost makes me want to cry. Frankie seems to be the only one not really paying attention and is either too busy in her own mind, or she's really enjoying the food, and when I see her do a little wiggle, I'm guessing it's the latter.

After a few more minutes it becomes unbearable and I can't stand being stuck in this silence any longer. I clear my throat, catching Quinn’s attention and she gives me a quizzical look, but I just give her a smile, “so Ayden,” he jumps slightly since he wasn't really paying attention, “you brought your Switch right,” I ask as a way to start conversation so he can feel a little more comfortable around me. He looks my way, then back at his food to push it around a little bit while thinking, then he looks back to me with the smallest hint of a smile on his face, “ _ **uh yeah, I brought my projector too, and some games, but I think Frankie has the rest of them cuz I don't own as many as she does,**_ ” he says softly with a twinkle in his eyes. I give him a warm and friendly smile, “well you wanna play? I don't know how to set anything up, so I won't be any help there, but what games to you have? I bet I can kick your ass in them,” I say in a teasing tone to coax him out of his shell a little more and hopefully help him feel less guilty.

After saying that, he shoveled the rest of the food into his mouth, got up to throw his plate away then went straight to his backpack to get what he needed out. “ _ **I'm gonna make you eat those works, no one beats me at Mario Kart,**_ ” he says with a playful fire in his eyes in place of the twinkle from earlier. I crack my knuckles and chuckle, “oh man, Mario Kart, you really are looking for a beating, I've never been beaten, so you better pray you can keep up,” I laugh as his eyes go wide and he searches for something in his backpack even faster, “ _ **Frankie can you help me find the HDMI cable, I don't remember what pocket it was in,**_ ” and Frankie gets up with a sigh, her food long gone.

I finish my food and get up, at the same time, Quinn gets up to join me in throwing our stuff away. Once our plates are in the trash, I lean against the counter and Quinn does too, then she puts an arm around me, pulling me close. “ _You know, I didn't know challenging him would get him to come out of his shell and not be all moody,_ ” she says with a slight huff. “Oh, he's the moody one, I practically still felt the anger coming off of you, I think you were glaring at him in your head,” I say as I playfully poke her side. She yelps in surprise, then wraps both arms around me in a bear hug, “ _oh you're going to regret that,_ ” she says as she starts to squeeze, and I can't help but laugh as I put my face into the crook of her neck and hug her back. I can feel her body relax and then I hear her sigh as she put her chin on my head.

The moment it's almost immediately ruined by Ayden yelling our way from the floor, “ _ **you guys gonna make out over there or are you gonna come get your asses kicked,**_ ” and with that, Quinn and I split apart at the speed of light, my face feeling warm and hers the color matching how mine feels. I shake my head and throw an easy smile Quinn’s way, and she seems to stiffen up as her face gets even redder. I laugh as I walk over to the couch and see that Ayden and Frankie have everything set up. “ _ **You ready to fucking lose, cuz I know I'm ready to kick your ass and win,**_ ” Ayden says with a cocky smile.

I look at him as a wicked smile crosses my face and I laugh, which makes him deflate a little bit. “Oh man, now you're really asking for it, like I said,” I lean down close to his face, and he gulps, “I've never been beaten,” I finish menacingly. He deflates even more, and there's a little fear in his eyes as I laugh and go to the couch to get comfortable. Ayden shakes his head and whispers something to Frankie which makes her smile as she's shaking her head. Frankie then gets up and goes to throw away her plate, and as she does that I look back into the kitchen and see that Quinn is still standing there, frozen in place. Frankie looks at me and says, “ **I think you broke her,** ” and I just laugh again as I get up to try to get her to come back to the living.

Once I get back into the kitchen, Frankie heads to the couch giving me a smile as she passes by. When I reach Quinn it looks like she's not breathing, and she's looking straight ahead. I don't know if I want to tease her anymore, or if I want her to really come back, she might get me back later, but my mind comes to a compromise, tease her so she does come back to the living. I look over my shoulder to see that Frankie and Ayden have their backs to us while they are in a heated debate. I look back at Quinn who still hasn't moved and just look at her.

After a few seconds of staring, she finally makes eye contact with me and seems to blush even more, then looks away. ‘Oh, oh really?’ I think, which makes a smirk appear on my face, ‘let the teasing begin’. “What are you thinkin about? Are you thinking about me,” I whisper to her is a low voice, which makes her look at me with wide eyes, and I see that her breathing has picked up. I smile and let out a fake gasp, “you are thinking about me,” I say to her as I lean closer to her face, “oh I wonder what I'm doing in your head,” I say as I wrap my arms around her neck, then I lean forward to whisper in her ear,"Did Ayden put a thought in your head? Are you thinking of kissing me, hmm,” I whisper and let my breath flow over her ear, then I pull back. And with that, she comes back to the living.

After saying that, Quinn finally takes a deep breath in and looks at me with wide eyes and a red face. She looks mortified at what I just said, but her deep inhale was loud enough to get the attention of Ayden and Frankie who are just staring at us. Quinn looks frantic, looking at them then back at me, and she finally shakes her head. When she looks back at me, my smile falls almost immediately. She looks furious, the small fire in them would be an indicator, but the frown that is currently sitting on her face tells me everything.

She's still staring at me, and the fire just grows in her eyes, so I let go as fast as I can and keep my head down as I move to the side to let her walk by. She lets out a huff and I can feel her eyes on me again, but I can't look up to meet hers, I won't be able to look at them without flinching, so I keep my eyes glued to the ground. She lets out one final puff, and walks by, making me straighten even more. When her footsteps end and the sound of the couch being sat on is heard, I finally look up and look over to the couch and my heart sinks. Quinn is sitting on the opposite side of the couch, where Frankie once sat, right next to Ayden, who glances at Quinn who is messing with her phone, then at me with a concerned look on his face, I just shake my head at him to just leave it be. He understands because he nods my way, though the concern never leaves his face. I take a deep breath in, sigh, then head to sit on the couch.

When I reach the couch, Quinn is still on her phone, not looking at anyone, not looking at me, and I just sigh again, but put on a small smile for Ayden and Frankie. Speaking of the two, they seem to be looking at one another, then at Quinn, and finally at me, concern and worry etched deep in their faces. I wave them off, letting them know not to worry about it, they sigh, nodding, trusting that I'll fix it somehow. I smile at them thankfully. My smile turns more genuine when I hear the Mario Kart theme song come on, “Imma kick your ass Ayden, I hope you know that,” and that seems to lighten the mood because he laughs, “ _ **I'll make you eat those words, I'm gonna win and you're gonna lose, isn't that right Frankie,**_ ” he asks, and Frankie just shrugs, “ **I don't know man, I always end up in at least fourth, so it doesn't really matter to me,** ” and Ayden just sighs as he passes the controllers around. “ _ **Well fine, then we just need to watch out for Q here, she's pretty good at racing, but not as good as me, isn't that right Quinn,**_ ” he nudges her side, and she shrugs, putting her phone down, “ _whatever man, lets just play,_ ” and the three of us deflate the smallest bit, but just leave her alone since if we focus on it anymore it'll bring down the mood even more.

We start the game and Ayden lets me have first pick, so I choose the maps where I know all of the shortcuts and the best drifting spots. When the racing actually starts, I already know that Ayden regrets letting me pick first, I'm already gone and in first place with him in second right behind me trying to take the lead, I can hear him curse under his breath and I just laugh. I win the first race, the second, third and fourth one, taking first place and 4 points to me. When it's time to pick the next set of maps, I look over at Ayden who is slumped over while Frankie is rubbing his back. She's trying not to smile as she says, “ **Maybe next time you’ll win, it's your turn to pick the maps,** ” and Ayden finally sits up, looking to have found some resolve somewhere.

I win against him on his picks too, which sends him into the comical anime cry, “ _ **how are you so good,**_ ” he sobs, “ _ **how have you beat me on my own best maps, I don't get it,**_ ” he sniffs, and I just laugh and reach over to pat him on the back, “maybe one day you’ll be as good as me, with enough practice,” I tell him as I lean back into my spot. I glance over at Quinn who is on her phone again, waiting for another game to start, I sigh and lean back into my spot, ready for more games to start.

It feels like hours pass once Ayden and Frankie are ready to go home. Frankie checks the time on her phone, “ **woah, I didn't know it was that late. C’mon Ayden, we should head home, it's almost 2,** ” she says as she stands to gather the Switch and projector to put in Aydens bag. Ayden is still crying a little because I've been beating him nonstop, but hearing the time makes him perk up in an instant, “ _ **damn it's already almost 2, what the hell,**_ ” he says as he hops up off the couch to help Frankie. While they're doing that, I give Quinn one last glance before I get up to go put the leftovers in the fridge.

After the food is put away, as well as Ayden’s things, we say our byes. “ _ **Hey it was great meeting you, and getting to know you a little more, we should hang out some more, If Q here lets us that is, but either way, we’ll hang again, and next time I'm going to beat you,**_ ” he says as he pats my shoulder. “ **Yeah I had a great time finally being able to come back and see how everything is, next time we should see what the inside of the house looks like,** ” Frankie says as she gives me a hug that I return, when she leans back she give my shoulders one last squeeze before letting go. “I had a great time too, I'm glad you guys came over and I finally got to meet more people, I'm gonna go wash up now. Hopefully I'll see you guys again soon,” I say as I go to leave for the bathroom so I can get to bed faster, I have a feeling that I won’t be sleeping tonight.

I'm barely around the corner before I hear a hissed, “ **what the hell was that,** ” from what seems to be a pissed of Frankie. The statement was followed by silence, and then an irritated Ayden, “ _ **yeah man, I could tell they were teasing you, but you scared them shitless when you looked at them how you did,**_ ” then I hear the tiniest gasp. Then I hear Frankie sigh, “ **look, you're the only one they feel safe around, and you just made them feel unsafe, what happened to what you said earlier about you wanting them to not be scared of you, huh,** ” another gasp and a trembling, “ _you heard that?_ ” from Quinn. Frankie huffs, “ **yeah I heard it you idiot. You need to fix this, I don't care how or when, but you need to fix it, like you said to us, they don't deserve this. C’mon Ayden, lets go,** ” then I hear the hatch open, queueing me to head to the bathroom when I hear it close.

When I close the bathroom door, I do my nightly routine and get ready for bed. While I'm brushing my teeth I just look at myself in the mirror and sigh as I finish up. After washing my face and drying it off, I leave the bathroom and head to the bedroom. When I get there Quinn isn't, so I sigh, turn the light off and go to lay down on my side of the bed, trying to give Quinn as much space as she needs.

It's maybe ten minutes before I hear the bathroom door close, and another five when it opens again. When I hear footsteps come closer to the room, I close my eyes to make it look like I'm sleeping, and with the light off, it'll help since she won't be able to see my face. When the bedroom door opens, I can feel Quinn’s eyes on me, but then she lets out a sigh as she closes the door, locks it, then pads over to her side of the bed. I feel the bed dip, and hear the vibration of her as she puts it on the charger, the bed moves even more when Quinn settles into the bed. I hear her head shift my way to see if I'm still awake, but I'm facing the door so she can't see me, and just sighs again.

What feels like half an hour goes by and I think she's asleep, but I'm proven wrong when I feel her arm wrap around my waist as she pulls me closer. I don't move a muscle because I don't want her to know that I'm awake, but the tears building in my eyes and the pounding of my heart have a different plan. When she stops pulling me in, she lets out a sigh and relaxes into my body. For me though, the tears finally spill over and little tremors rage through my body, I try my hardest to stop the shaking, but I can't, I just need to ride it out. When I think Quinn is sleeping again, she pulls me closer once again, and squeezing me, knowing that she's here for me even after what I did. And knowing that, the tears come freely now and the shaking gets worse.

I turn and face Quinn but I don't look at her, I just put my face in the crook of her neck, breathe in the apple that always lingers on her, and calm down only the slightest bit. And just like the first night I was here, even in her arms, knowing I'm safe, I question it for the shortest of moments, and fall into a fitful slumber as she hums the lullaby to me again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments welcome  
> Find me on Tumblr @get-lost-with-m3  
> Got Questions, my asks are always open


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